The New Ginny
by Jaylana88
Summary: When Mr. Weasley gets a raise, he decides to "treat" his daughter to a month of summer camp in, of all places, Sweden. But when she returns, the question is not how much SHE'S changed, but who she's brought along to change everyone else!
1. Ginny Weasley's Swedish Summer

Title: The New Ginny Weasley

Author: Jaylana88

Pairing: Ginny/Draco, mostly.  Will be some Ron/Lavender, and Harry/Hermione sprinkled in.

Rating: R, for language and some explicit content that would probably traumatize young ones

A/N: The usual author's noteà I do not intend to copy, infringe upon, or abuse the characters I have borrowed from J.K. Rowling, but if someone thinks I am, try not to sue.  I have no money.

Please review, as this is my first submission to fanfiction.net, and would like some feedback.  Not too many flames, preferably.  And now, on to the story…

The New Ginny Weasley

Chapter One: Ginny Weasley's Swedish Summer

                "Ginny, wake up!  Harry and Hermione will be here any moment now!"

                'Ugh…' she thought wearily. 'What was I thinking, coming back to The Burrow when I could be in sunny, gorgeous Sweden?'  Ginny rolled over with a groan, shutting her eyes tightly against the bright rays of sunlight streaming through the window, and pressed a pillow against her face.

                "Ginny, get your ass outta bed!"

                "Gwa" she said pitifully, and became the first person to combine and successfully say "Go away asshole" in one syllable.

                "Ginny, I mean it!  Harry and Hermione will be here any minute and…"  The rest of his words were drowned out by the pillow that was shoved into his face as his little sister let out a strangled shriek, stalked past him and out her bedroom, stomping down the hall and slamming the bathroom door with an inarticulate snarl.

                Ron blinked once, and walked out, muttering under his breath about obnoxious sisters.

                Ginny Weasley stood in front of the mirror, combing out her long, just-showered hair.  'Only two more days before I have to go back to Hogwarts.'  She sighed wistfully, thinking of the amazing, fun-filled summer she had had at camp the past month.  She could just remember the first day of camp, when she had gotten off the train and stood at the back of the gathering nervously, waiting for the stern but youthful-looking woman at the front to speak …[flashback]

                "Welcome to Salrisa Camp, everyone!  My name is Alicia Salrisa, and I am the head counselor here.  Your bags have been taken to your cabins- your housing arrangements have been predetermined.  Remember now, that this camp is MIXED.  As in, Muggles as well as wizards and witches are present here.  Don't go getting all prejudiced on me, or else I'll deal with you personally, and then we'll see what you think.  Well alright.  When I call out your name, please come to the front so I can direct you to your cabins.  Now….Alexandria Wilson!  Kaylana Taback!  Lorelia English and…Virginia Weasley!  You four, Cabin 2, follow the signs up the road."  The four girls, walking up to the front, looked at eachother.  Offering tentative smiles, simultaneously, they turned, and made their way up the graveled path to Cabin 2.

                Ginny followed the other three girls morosely.  'Just HOW had she gotten herself into this, again?  Oh right,' she thought sarcastically, 'Dad got a raise, and thought he'd send me off for a spot of fun.  In SWEDEN, no less.  I mean, really- what the HELL is in SWEDEN!?!'  So deeply was she absorbed in her own dark thoughts, she didn't realize that the three girls ahead of her had stopped, and that they were now the three girls behind her, clearing their throats nervously and gesturing at the door to Cabin 2.

                "Oh.  Right…sorry about that." Ginny said shyly, her cheeks turning slightly pink when she realized her error.

                "Don't worry about it, babe.  Thinkin', and all that shiz?" said one of the girls, as she opened the door and they all shuffled inside.

                "Yeah, something to that affect."  Ginny muttered, smiling slightly.  'An American..' she thought.  'Sounds interesting.'

                "Alright.  Sooo…who's who?" said the girl who had spoken earlier.  A quick moment of silence, and then…

                "Alexandria, but I go by Lex, most of the time," started the girl with the long brown hair in an Irish lilt.  Her clear blue eyes glanced at the other girl and she said, in a friendly voice, "and you are?"

                "I'm Kaylana, or Kay, whateva ya want.  An American." She smiled wryly at her accent, or lack thereof.  "But of course you cats have recognized that by now."  She smiled cheekily, showing off her perfect teeth, and small dimples on the sides of her cheeks.  Turning to the other two so-far-unnamed girls, she glanced at Ginny curiously.  "You, sweet thing, look too much like a Virginia to me."  Ginny nodded once, offering a shy smile.

                "That's me, but I go by Ginny, or Gin, whichever you please"

                "So that means you must be…Lorelia, am I right?"  Kay asked hopefully.

                "Got that right.  Lorelia English, Lorey for short.  I don't even RESPOND to Lorelia anymore!" Lorey said with an easy, drawling accent.  

                With the introductions over with, all four girls settled down to pack, and give some background information on themselves.  Kay, born and bred in California, looked every inch the beach girl she was, plus a bit of punker.  Tall, thin but with the curves to pull it off, and highlights from the sun, she radiated energy and charisma- bouncing around the room, throwing her clothes haphazardly on her bed and pinning up pictures of her family and friends.  

                Lex, they were told, did NOT come from Ireland, but from Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States.  Her accent was just from her parents.  With shining brown hair and a petite figure, she was the picture of demure innocence, until you looked at her eyes.  Light, baby blue eyes, which typically would have enhanced the purity she radiated, except for the fact that they twinkled with something else…curiosity and even a bit of cunning.

                Lorey, Ginny learned, was from the middle of nowhere.  Texas, she said.  Her dark hair, falling down to the middle of her back, was layered so it framed her face.  Her chocolate brown eyes were tilted upwards, a sure sign of her Asian heritage- half-Japanese, she stated proudly.  'These girls are all gorgeous!  And they seem so nice- I wonder if-'

                "What about you Gin?  Judging from the way ya talk, you must be from England, yah?" Lorey asked, startling Ginny out of her thoughts.

                "Yeah, I'm from England." She said, slightly wistfully.

                "Do you think you're gunna miss it much?"  Lorey said sympathetically, putting an arm around her shoulder.

                "A bit maybe, I have a big family so it's hard not seeing them for such a while.  But I'll get over it."  Ginny said.

                "That's the spirit!  We're here to have a blast, gals!  We'll all be going back to our homes soon enough; might as well make the best of it now!" said Kay, squeezing the two embracing girls tightly.

                "Kay, you're a hit….you're too cute!" said Lex, in between giggles.  "Come on you guys, let's go get a bit to eat, and then storm the pool!  I wanna check out the boys…." She said hungrily, blue eyes lighting up with mischief.

                They all looked at eachother, then burst out laughing.  Ginny grinned for the first time all day, and giggled helplessly along with them.  'Maybe this'll be a better summer than I thought' she thought hopefully, and walked out of the now-looking-lived-in, previously untouched, cabin, shutting the door quickly behind her.

[end flashback]

Ginny heard a thump, and a loud "ow!", and snapped out of her reverie.  "So now the Dream Team is complete...wonderful…" Ginny muttered to herself.  Something her friends at camp hadn't been able to cure her of, or stomp out of her, was her habit of getting lost in her thoughts.  She sighed, putting her brush down, and ran her hands over her hair once more, looking in the mirror for anything particularly interesting.  "Nothing too interesting," Ginny chided herself, without the bitterness she used to use, before going to camp.  Lorey, Kay and Lex had become like sisters to her, and, in doing so, had taken it upon themselves to stamp out such bad thoughts.  

                'Self-confidence is everything,' Lex had once said to her.  

                'Hold yourself like you want everyone to pay attention…you deserve it..' floated through her head, the advice Lorey had drilled into her head those weeks at camp.  

                'You're gorgeous, bitch!  Use it, cuz it'll work like nothing else!' 'Ah, of course,' Ginny thought fondly, 'can never forget Kay's wonderful words of wisdom.'

                Ginny had to admit, though, that standing in front of the mirror wasn't quite as depressing as it used to be.  In fact, it really WAS quite interesting.  Looking at herself now, and comparing herself to before, she knew for a fact that she had changed, and definitely for the better.  Her red hair, the Weasley trademark, reached a little past the middle of her back, and had gotten darker over the summer, along with acquiring  dark red highlights, compliments of Kay.  Though she hadn't grown any taller, and remained a diminuitive 5'3", she had filled out quite nicely, with generous curves in all the right places and a considerably ample chest.  Her entire wardrobe now consisted of new clothing, shipped free of charge from Lorey's mom, a teen clothing designer, who had been ecstatic when she had heard her daughter now had an overseas contact for which to model her new designs.  Newly designed robes, shirts of every color imaginable, pants, jeans, skirts, boots, shoes- you name it, she had it, and all in the latest fashions, stowed away in her trunk for the year to come.

                But new clothes weren't all she had that was different about her.  This year, Ginny Weasley had a fashion statement of her own to make.  'Spunky, stylish, but still me.' She thought.  'This year, I'm going to be noticed!  And I'll start…with Mr. Harry Potter.  My old crush…' Ginny thought determinedly,  then rolling her eyes at her former naivety.  Over the summer, her feelings for Harry had gradually been forgotten.  But that didn't mean she didn't want to befriend him.  It always paid to have friends with connections.  I mean, look at Ron!

                With a toss of her hair, and a last glimpse into the bathroom mirror, she stuck out her tongue at her reflection and slung on her robe, walking to her bedroom to put on some clothes.  Dragging out her already-packed trunk from underneath her bed, she flung it open and grabbed a dark grey jean skirt sitting on the top of the piles of clothing inside.  Pulling them on quickly after getting her undergarments on, she shuffled through her shirts before finding the dark red strapless top that matched the highlights in her hair.  Standing in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom, she did a quick twirl, and added a last wink to her reflection before striding out confidently to greet The-Boy-Who-Lived and Little Miss Know-It-All.

                Harry Potter, leader of The Dream Team and world-renowned survivor of Voldemort, clambered up quickly after being spit out of the Floo Network at the Weasley's fireplace and emitting a loud "ow!"  Glasses askew, trying in vain to brush off the soot that had landed in his hair and on his clothes, he peered around quickly for his trunk.  Spotting it a little to his left, he bent down quickly to check for damage, and was knocked down over it a second after he heard a rushing sound and a loud "oomf!"

                "Ow…" he muttered.

                "Oh sorry Harry!  Didn't mean to…" Hermione said hastily, struggling to her feet, brushing at her sweater and skirt.

                "Well, it's about time!" exclaimed a voice from the darkened stairway.

                "Ron!" Hermione yelled happily.

                "Hey Harry, Hermione, good to see you guys made it!  Trip was alright?" Ron asked, while walking down to embrace his friends.

                "Ah yes, loads of fun…." Harry said sarcastically, gesturing towards himself.

                Glancing around, Hermione asked, "Where's the rest of your family?"

                "Kitchen." Ron said simply.

                "Well then let's go!  I've missed everyone!" she said.

                Ron led Harry and Hermione over to the kitchen, where Molly Weasley stood making breakfast while the rest of the Weasleys sat around the table, an orange flurry of voices and gestures.  Suddenly, one of the twins caught sight of the two guests, and yelled out, "Harry, Hermione!  How've you been!?"  Everyone went still and turned, then as one, it seemed, the entire Weasley clan rushed over towards Harry and Hermione and greeted them enthusiastically.

                "Harry how are you?!"

                "Doin' alright then?"

                "Those ruddy Muggles better have been treatin' you fine!"

                "How was the summer, 'Mione?  Why, you're positively glowing!  Where did you go!?" exclaimed Molly, capturing Hermione in a tight hug.

                "Nowhere special…" said a slightly muffled Hermione, though she was grinning happily into Mrs. Weasley's shoulder.

                "And Harry!  Well look at you!  Skin and bones, you are- we'll have to fill you right up!" scolded Molly, glancing at the shadows under his eyes, but then smiling slightly in response to Harry's broad grin.

                "It's enough being here, Mrs. Weasley," he said gratefully.  "Thanks for the invite, everyone." Said Harry, looking around at the Weasleys.  Everyone was there, smiling happily and talking, it looked like- Bill, Charlie, Percy, the twins, Ron, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Hermione- but something, or someone, was missing.

                "Where's Ginny?  Not back from Sweden yet?" asked Harry curiously.

                "Oh no, she's back.  But she's sleeping…been sleeping since yesterday morning, when she got back, actually," said George.

                "I woke her up a bit ago," said Ron, a little sheepishly. "I thought she should be up and about, since we're visiting Diagon Alley today."

                "Ronald Weasley!  Your sister has been away for a whole MONTH, and all you can do is think about Diagon Alley!?" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley, exasperated.  "Ginny has only been home for a DAY!  I haven't even had a chance to talk to my baby…." She trailed off, sadly.

                "Relax mum, I'm right here.  And I wasn't gone THAT long" said a light, female, slightly sarcastic voice from the doorway leading out to the stairs.   Harry and Hermione turned around to face the girl in the doorway, and their mouths simultaneously dropped open.

                "_Ginny!?" Hermione squealed in astonishment._


	2. Telling Everyone, or, in Ginny's case, S...

Title: The New Ginny Weasley

Author: Jaylana88

Pairing: Ginny/Draco, mostly.  Will be some Ron/Lavender, and Harry/Hermione sprinkled in.

Rating: R, for language and some explicit content that would probably traumatize young ones

A/N: The usual author's noteà I do not intend to copy, infringe upon, or abuse the characters I have borrowed from J.K. Rowling, but if someone thinks I am, try not to sue.  I have no money.

The New Ginny Weasley

Chapter 2: Telling Everyone, or, in Ginny's case, Showing Everyone

                Dressed in a short grey denim skirt and a dark red top, Ginny sauntered into the room, head held high, smiling slightly at Harry and nodding to Hermione, making her way over to the abandoned dining table and sitting down with a sigh.

                "So…what's for breakfast?" she said sweetly.

                "Gin....what- I mean-why…no I do mean what…are you WEARING!?!" Ron screeched.

                "Uhm.  Clothing?  You know, the things you wear most of the time to prevent the whole "I am naked" deal?" Ginny drawled sarcastically, frowning slightly before giving in to the laughter threatening to overwhelm her.  Giggling helplessly, she peered up at her family, looking at each person for their reactions.  Bill, grinning, made eye contact with her first, let out a loud laugh, and strode over to her, picking her up out of her chair and hugging her tightly, while she squealed with delight.

                "Ginny girl, you look fantastic!  Those Swedes must have treated you wonderfully!" exclaimed Bill.  "You must tell us about everything.  Now!  I want all the details!"

                "OUT OF THE WAY BILL!  It's MY turn now!" roared Charlie.  "Gin!  Forget Bill, give your favorite brother a kiss, love!"  Grinning happily, she spun around to Charlie, who was waiting arms open for a hug. 

                "Charlie!  I missed you so much!  When did you get here?!" she said happily.

                "Just last night, my dear, while you were sleeping away." He grinned at her, before picking her up quickly and squeezing her once more.

                "Hey don't forget us!" said Fred and George at the same time.

                "Hey guys!  How was everything?  Thought up anything cool while I was gone?"

                "Oh, loads!  We'll show you them all, once breakfast is over!" Fred stated, smiling cheekily at her.  "Oh, and don't worry," he stage-whispered loudly to her , "We know we're your FAVORITE brothers, unlike some dumb dragon-lovers we know…"

                "Take that back you!  Just because there's two of you doesn't mean you can get away with insulting me!" said Charlie, before advancing on the twins with his arms outstretched.  Guffawing loudly, the twins hurled themselves out of the kitchen, followed by their irate older brother.

                Ginny blinked for a moment, then grinned.  'Things definitely haven't changed all that much,' she thought, shaking her head at her brother's antics before being startled out of her thoughts by a slight tap on the shoulder.  Turning around quickly, she threw her arms out and screeched "Perce!"  at the top of her lungs.  Wincing slightly, he grinned nevertheless and embraced her.  "Gin, thank god you're home!  I had to put up with Ron's moaning and whining for a whole month without you!"  said Percy, glancing at Ron darkly over the top of Ginny's head, which barely reached his shoulder, before releasing her and settling down for breakfast, sitting down next to Bill, who had also returned to the table to read The Daily Prophet sitting on it.  Ron returned the glare halfheartedly, still preoccupied with Ginny's state of dress.  And, now that you mention it, the other things that seemed to have changed about her, like Ginny's hair, and Ginny's face…

                Startled by the elbow that had gone into his ribcage, he glanced over towards Harry, who was now in the process of looking towards the wall idly, looking innocent.  Deciding he would deal with Harry later, he crossed his arms and said "hmph!", getting the attention of his youngest sister quickly.

                "Not going to give your best brother a hug, then, just cuz he made the mistake of opening his big mouth once again?" Ron said, sounding hopeful.  'Please don't let her be mad, please don't let her be mad, please don't let her be mad…' echoed through his head.

                Ginny strode over to him, smacked his arm lightly, and said "Bad Ronniekins…" in what was supposed to have been a stern voice, but failed when she say the pitiful expression on her brother's face.

                "Oh RON, come here you!" she said gleefully, hugging him tightly then letting go and grinning into his face,  before whispering into his ear, "If you ever insult my clothing again, I will personally make sure that you will never have any children.  Ever."  Ron gulped and turned an ugly shade of green, but when he realized by the expression on his sister's face that she wasn't serious, turned a light shade of pink. "Oh you're going to pay for threatening me, little sister.  You know you'll never get away with it! You just wait, I'm going to get you so good, you won't know what happened." Ron said in a threatening manner, but the twinkle in his eye belied his malevolent tone.  Suddenly grinning, he caught her up in another hug before quickly turning to his still-speechless friends standing behind him and ushering them out of the kitchen.

                "We'll just get you two settled in.  It's only for one night, but…." Ginny listened until Ron's voice faded out, then turned towards her parents, who had so far remained quiet since she had walked in.  
                "Oh my dear, you look so much older!  You've changed your clothes, your hair, and- and your face!  I can't believe it!  Why, I barely recognize my baby anymore!" Mrs. Weasley wailed, before enveloping her only daughter in a warm hug.  "We've missed you so!  Your father and I were beside ourselves, worrying about whether you were getting on alright!  I mean, really dear, only three owls in all this time?!" she exclaimed, before stepping back a little to collect herself.  She then said, in a softer voice, "We really did miss you around The Burrow, dearest.  Breakfast will be ready in just a minute.  Give your father a hug and go sit down," and with that, she turned quickly back to preparing breakfast.

                "Yes mum," said Ginny, before turning to her Dad and throwing her arms around his neck.  "Daddy!" she squealed.

                "Hello baby, how was the camp?  Did the Swedes treat you well?  Tell me all about the Muggles you met, sweetie!  Did you stay with any?  I saw on the brochure that it was a "mixed" camp, so you must have met plenty…?" he babbled on excitedly, never once releasing his daughter.  Laughing, Ginny said, "I'll tell you all about it, Daddy, but let's have something to eat first.  I'm starved!  Haven't eaten since the day before yesterday, you know."

                "Oh of course, munchkin, let's have some breakfast and you can tell me everything that happened!"  Ginny and Mr. Weasley walked over to the table and sat with Percy until breakfast was ready.  "Boys, Hermione, breakfast is served!  Come to the kitchen!" calling out to the remaining occupants in The Burrow while setting down plates of food fresh off the stove.  Fred and George, breathless and hanging onto each other while still guffawing loudly, stumbled into the kitchen, followed by a very tired Charlie, who had chased them around the house twice before managing to make it to the kitchen.  Then Ron trooped in, followed by Harry and Hermione, who stared at Ginny oddly before taking their places at the table.  Ginny stared at the two suspiciously before smiling tentatively and turning back to her father, Bill and Charlie, who had been attempting to get her to talk about what she did in Sweden for the past five minutes now.  

                "So what are the girls like in Sweden, Gin?  I hear they are as fine as-" Bill said deviously, before being cut off by Mr. Weasley.

                "Now Bill!  Keep that thought to yourself, if you please!"

                "Yeah Bill, besides what do you care?  You've got Fleur!" said Charlie.  When Fleur Delacour had graduated from Beauxbatons, she had applied for an apprenticeship for Charm-Breakers in Egypt and had met up with Bill in a pyramid.  They had, apparently, after some bickering, hit it off quite nicely, and had been together ever since.

                "I, on the other hand, have no one," said Charlie. "Which means, Gin, that you can tell me all you want to about those Swedish girls!  I hear they are as fine as-" 

                "_Charlie!"_

                "Sorry Dad!"

                Smiling to herself, she proceeded to answer all of the questions she could from her family, trying to get in a bite to eat as best she could.  Finally, the spotlight turned off her and onto her older brothers, and she was able to eat without contributing to the conversation much.  She glanced up quickly to look at the clock, and caught sight of Harry and Hermione glancing her way.  Startled, she turned her full gaze on them curiously, and they met her eyes abruptly before looking away.  Ginny blinked once, then rolled her eyes.  'They can talk about me all they want.  I don't care...' she thought, and with that, turned back to her breakfast, raising one eyebrow pointedly when Harry glanced cautiously at her once more.

Quick Author's Blerb:  Sorry this chapter is so short!  It wasn't really supposed to be here (the next chapter is the big one!).  Ah well, read and review please-oh-please?

ALSO: Thanks to EVERYONE who has either read or reviewed this story; I walked around with a goofy smile on my face after I read the feedback I had received from the first chapter.  To some people in particular:

**Anyanka**: There will be a few more camp flashbacks, but other than that, nothing more.  Reasons for the small amount?  You'll just have to keep reading…..I hope you're surprised! :)

**Midnight**** Ashes: You live in Sweden!  You must tell me all about it!  I need some more info., as I am pitifully lacking in any type of Swedish knowledge.  Just some details about the weather (though that's such a boring topic), the type of land there (i.e. mountains? Lots of grass? As Ginny says….what the HELL is in Sweden?! Lol), and any other interesting little tidbits you could pop me.  It would be much appreciated- I would love you forever!  My email is Prncss12478@aol.com, please email me there if you could.  I would prefer to keep fanfiction Sweden as close to real-life Sweden as is humanly possible…**

To all other reviewers whose wonderful little comments will undoubtedly keep me going in the future whilst writing this story, I LOVE YOU ALL!

I will try to update as quickly as possible.  Most of the story is already written, but I am having trouble getting it posted because of technical difficulties- last minute changes/tweaks, massive grammatical errors, etc.  But never fear!  I WILL get the next chapters posted soon!

-Jaylana88


	3. Diagon Alley, aka Enter Draco Malfoy!

 Title: The New Ginny Weasley

Author: Jaylana88

Pairing: Ginny/Draco, mostly.  Will be some Ron/Lavender, and Harry/Hermione sprinkled in.

Rating: R, for language and some explicit content that would probably traumatize young ones

A/N: The usual author's noteà I do not intend to copy, infringe upon, or abuse the characters I have borrowed from J.K. Rowling, but if someone thinks I am, try not to sue.  I have no money.

Another Author's Blerb: This is NOT the Original version of Chapter 3.  The original version was uploaded very late last night, and I neglected to check for typos (in the title itself), grammatical errors, and particularly necessary details I neglected to mention, the lack of which have come to my attention due to a wonderful reviewer by the name of fang-gurlie (thank you thank you, dearest!).  I hope this newly-improved chapter makes a bit more sense to everyone (though most of it is, admittedly, the same) and I am so sorry about the earlier edition!  But now, enough of my blithering- on to the story!

The New Ginny Weasley

Chapter 3: Diagon Alley, aka "Enter Draco Malfoy"

                Weaving through the crowded streets of Diagon Alley, Ginny sighed softly, brushing fine wisps of dark red hair out of her face before pausing in front of a shop door uncertainly.  She toyed with the few Galleons she had tucked away in the pocket of her robe, swaying uncertainly in front of Ollivanders.  Back in Sweden, her friends had taken one look at her old, tarnished wand, and had demanded she purchase a new one the minute she got back.  'One of the drawbacks of finding out all THREE of your roommates/best friends are witches is that they are NOSY when you don't WANT them to be…" Ginny reflected, 'Muggle friends would have been much better,' she thought sarcastically.  'But they really were right,' Ginny amended,  'because I DO need a new wand'; a hand-me-down was difficult, at best, to work magic with when it wasn't suited to you, at worst, it was fatal.  Finally, she made up her mind, rushing into the wand store quickly before she could have second thoughts about it, lest she change her mind.  It was dusty and a little gloomy inside, and goosebumps immediately broke out on her arms.  She looked around and called out a soft, "Hello?"  Seeing and hearing no one, she waited a few moments more before turning around slowly and walking back towards the door.

                "And just where do you think you're going, Miss Weasley?" a soft voice called out to her.  Jumping slightly, she turned back towards the voice and met the wizened eyes of Mr. Ollivander with as much strength as she could muster.

                "Hello, Mr. Ollivander.." she said, unable to keep the slight tremor out of her voice.

                "I've been waiting for you, Miss Weasley.  Something told me that you would be by soon.." Mr. Ollivander said, piercing Ginny with a knowing gaze.  "Yes…I knew you would make your way to me eventually, especially after your return from Sweden.  Can't use your brother's old wand forever now, can you?" he said idly, before turning to the rows of boxes and beginning to shuffle through them.

                "No, we can't have someone like you walking about, without a wand especially suited to your….capabilities and talents."

                "Uhm…alright…" said Ginny, noticeably confused by the wand maker now at the back of the shop.  'What did he just say?' she thought, dazedly.  'And how did he know I just got back from-'

                "Here you are, Miss Weasley.  Try this," said Mr. Ollivander, making Ginny flinch in surprise.

                "Mr. Ollivander," Ginny said nervously while reaching for the wand held in his outstretched hand, "How did you know that I went to Sweden?"

                "Never mind that, my dear girl, just try this.  It's been in storage for ages.  Waiting for the right person to find it, I daresay…" he trailed off, as Ginny grasped the wand.

                The moment Ginny touched the wand in question, the room darkened, and wind swept through her hair, plucking at her robe.  The wand began to glow, first gold, then with hints of sparkling green and midnight blue; the glow soon spread to her hand, then traveled up the length of her arm and up to her shoulder, then spreading across the rest of her body until she glowed.  Ginny watched, fascinated, not knowing that her eyes were beginning to flash with silver, only aware of the wand she grasped.  Suddenly, a noise, the sound of someone clearing their throat, caused her to tear her eyes away from the wand quickly; when she met the astonished and somewhat smug gaze of Mr. Ollivander, the store became almost stiflingly quiet once more.

                "Well then, Miss Weasley, I see we've found it.  Not too much looking around the shop for that one, I must say." Said Mr. Ollivander quietly.  "We'll just put it in a box, and you can be on your way," he said, before carefully taking Ginny's newly acquired wand and turning to find the box and a strip of paper to wrap it in.

                "Ah, thank you," said Ginny, a bit awkwardly.  She reached into her pocket to pull out her remaining five Galleons, and set them down.  "Excuse me sir, but is this enough?  I've never bought a wand of my own, so I don't know how much they are…" Ginny trailed off, looking down and off to the side, embarrassed and more than a little ashamed.

                "This particular wand is no more than five Galleons, my dear.  It has been here for quite some time, and with that experimental core…" Mr. Ollivander said, pausing for a moment to glance at the small pile of Galleons quickly.

                "Experimental core?" said Ginny nervously.

                "Yes, Miss Weasley.  An experimental core, composed of three magical substances, instead of the usual one.  Made from the heartstring of an Antipodean Opaleye, a feather from an Occamy, and a hair from a Granian, twined together to form quite a powerful wand.  It is interesting that this particular wand should choose you, Miss Weasley.  Very interesting, indeed." And with that said, he scooped up the five Galleons, handed over the box containing the peculiar wand, and bowed her out of his shop with a polite goodbye and a final "Interesting, indeed."

                Still a little overcome by the events that had just transpired, Ginny made her way towards Flourish and Blotts.  Not watching where she was going, she clipped someone's arm with her shoulder in her hurry to reach the book store's door.  "Oh sorry about that," she said distractedly, pausing momentarily to apologize before turning back towards the store.

                "Weasley?" a slightly surprised voice drawled after her.  Startled, she turned back towards the person she had run into, and her eyebrows shot up.

                "Hello, Malfoy.  Sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." She said quietly, immediately wary of the person she was speaking to.  The only run-ins she had ever had with him throughout her entire four years at Hogwarts had been few and far between, and had always involved her brother, Harry and Hermione.  Those incidents had left her with a distinctly unpleasant impression of Draco Malfoy, but since he had never directly insulted her, she figured it would be alright to at least be polite to the boy.  'Besides', she thought, 'this boy is hot stuff…'

                "Well Virginia, it looks like you had a particularly…invigorating…summer," Said Malfoy with only a slight hint of the usual malice, leering at her once before glancing down appreciatively to the slit in her robe that revealed a flash of leg every time she shifted.  'What happened to that little Weasley I used to scare the shit out of whenever I passed her in the hall?' Draco thought.  "Wow, she's hot- wait, what the hell am I saying!?  This is Ginny Weasley we're talking about here, shy, mousey, red hair…legs for days, gorgeous body- STOP IT DRACO!'  

                Looking at him squarely, she said in a light tone, "First name basis already, are we Draco?"  Ginny flashed him a quick smile, before turning away and walking back toward Flourish and Blotts.  "I'll see you at Hogwarts, then.  Hope you had as good a summer as I did; you look it." And with that, she opened the door and strode inside, leaving Draco Malfoy, for once in his entire life, completely speechless.

                "Whoa," muttered Draco, shaking his head and glancing once more towards Flourish and Blotts before making his way down towards where his father awaited him at the entrance to Knockturn Alley.

                "Yes!  Score one for the home team!" Ginny snickered, borrowing a phrase she had picked up from Kay, laughing to herself quietly as she moved through the crowd to the shelf that housed the materials she would need for 6th year.  She reached into her pocket and pulled out the list of materials she had gotten this morning after breakfast.  Picking up copies of the books she needed, she then made her way to the 7th year bookshelves, grabbing the Transfiguration and Potions books she would need for the advanced classes she would be taking this year.  She smiled while she toyed with the books in her hands, thinking back to the last week of camp, when she had gotten word that she would be able to take the advanced placement courses she had asked and tested for at the end of 5th year….[flashback]

                After going for a swim with a group of boys down by the edge of the campsite, Lex, Kay, Lorey and Ginny made their way back up to their cabin to change and get ready for dinner.  Opening the door, Ginny glanced back to comment on something that Lorey had said, took a step and tripped on a pile of clothes sitting just to the side of the doorway.  "Oh for fuck's sake!" she cried, exasperated, kicking her dirty pile of clothes out of the way and flopping down on her bed, burying her face in her pillow.

                "Ugh, what a fucken' day…" said Ginny, though due to the fact that a pillow was in her face, it came out sounding more like, "Ah, watafakana…"

                "Pobre* Ginny, what's up sweetie?" said Kay, sitting down on the bed.

                "This day has royally sucked!" Ginny said, raising her head from her pillow.  "I got breakfast stuffed down my shirt in the middle of a perfectly civilized food fight," she said, glaring pointedly at Lorey and Lex, who simultaneously denied their own blame with head shakings and vigorous finger pointing at the other, "after waking up at some ungodly hour because my roommates," she said, her glare now encompassing all three of her roommates, who grimaced together, "decided that it would be funny to put a large cow bell next to my ear and ring it, repeatedly, just for kicks."  Ginny crossed her arms, made a face at Kay, who struggled to contain her laughter, before continuing:

                "Not only did my MORNING suck, my afternoon basically decided to kill me while it had the chance!  Kevin threw me into the water with ALL MY CLOTHES ON, I accidentally flashed Dan when I was changing because I forgot to lock the door, I was almost impaled on a large wooden stick when I was thrown into the ruddy water by Kevin AGAIN, and I managed to open up a cut on my knee for the THIRD BLOODY TIME THIS WEEK when I tripped on those bloody clothes!!!" By this time, Ginny had gotten off her bed and paced around the room twice, her face flushed, waving her arms wildly at her roommates who were struggling not to erupt into laughter.

                "Okay, I'm done.  Just needed to get that out of my system." Ginny said, sighing softly, sitting back down on her bed, "Breathe in," she said to herself, taking in a load of air, "breathe out," exhaling quickly.  A squeak from Lorey prompted her to look at her roommates, who were still struggling not to laugh.  Snorting at the girls, she couldn't help but give in to the grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.  Seeing that Ginny wasn't as angry as she had been before, all three girls exploded into a fit of laughter, holding their stomachs, tears streaming down their faces.

                "Oh man, that's too fucken funny, babe! You-I mean-that-oh shit!" gasped Kay, gripping her stomach tightly.  "Argh!  It hurts, it hurts!"  Still laughing, but getting herself under control within moments, she managed to say, "Ginny!  You went all-out English on us there!  That was fucken wild!"

                "Well I didn't mean to.  I mean, it just kinda…came out, I guess."  Ginny shrugged sheepishly, before remembering that her roommates were the cause of much of her previous anguish, and tried to glare at them.  Then, realizing not for the first time that it was impossible to stay mad at these three, she gave up and laughed along with them.  They were still giggling when a large tawny owl suddenly swooped in through the open door and landed gracefully on Ginny's bed post.  Hooting softly, it dropped a letter onto the bed spread and, ruffling its feathers in a distinguished manner, launched off the bed and flew out the door once more.

                Startled, the girls stopped laughing and waited for Ginny to open the letter.  She opened it cautiously, noting the Hogwarts insignia on the envelope as she opened it….  

_                    Dear Miss Weasley,_

_                                    Congratulations!  Due to your consistent performance last year, along with your personal request and outstanding results from both the 6th  year Transfigurations exam and the 6th year Potions exam that you took at the end of your 5th  year, it has been established that you are to begin 7th year Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall,as well as 7th year Potions with Professor Snape this year.  As these are Advanced classes, your list of materials needed will be more extensive than your regular 6th year classes.  These items,along with the materials necessary for your regular 6th year classes will be owled to your permanent area of residency.  Once again, we offer our congratulations on your outstanding achievements thus far at Hogwarts,  and we look forward to your continued presence this coming year._

_                    Sincerely,_

_                                    Professor Albus Dumbledore _

_                                    Headmaster at _Hogwarts___School__ of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

"Oh my gosh…" Ginny said faintly.  "I passed….I passed?  I passed…" she muttered.

                "Gin!  What the hell happened?  Is that from your school?!" said Lorey eagerly, snatching the letter out of Ginny's loose grip.  Scanning it quickly, Lorey finished it, and, with a broad grin on her face, launched herself at Ginny, hugging her excitedly.

                "Congrats, chica!  This is bomb!" screeched Kay, jumping up and down before doing a little victory dance for Ginny's benefit.

                "Oh wicked, Gin!  This is sick!  You must be massive smart to get into 6th year classes!" squealed Lex, then dive-bombed Ginny's bed, bouncing both Ginny and Lorey up and down.

                "I passed….I did it.  I did it I did it I did it…I DID IT! YES YES YES!!!" exclaimed Ginny, clapping her hands together before falling back onto the bed in a daze.

                "Congrats, babe!  Looks like your day wasn't as shitty as you thought…"

[end flashback]

                Ginny glanced down at the books in her arms, checking to make sure that she had gotten all the ones she needed, and made her way towards the heart of the store, looking around for any sign of her family.  "Ginny!" a voice called out from behind her.  She whipped around and spotted her family, along with Harry and Hermione, all carrying cauldrons filled with books and other school materials.  "We bought all your supplies, dear.  Oh, and Dumbledore owled us with your advanced courses, so we got your things for those as well.  So all that's left are your books, which you've got," said Mrs. Weasley.  "I'll take those and pay for them, and meet you all outside."

                When all of the shopping was done, the group returned to The Burrow, where Ginny made her way up to her room and flopped down on her bed.  Suddenly, she heard tapping on her bedroom window.  Looking out, she spotted three owls, and got off her bed with a groan to throw open the window for them.  Two large brown owls and a smaller grey owl swooped into Ginny's room, landing on various perches.  Collecting all three letters and giving each owl an affectionate stroke on their beaks which they returned with a soft hoot, she bade them goodbye as they flew out her window, then plopped down on her bed to open her letters.

        _Dear Gin,_

_                            HOLA BABYYYY!!  Right now, Kay and Lorey are over here at my house.  We are all about to go to sleep, because we are going to be doing a lot tomorrow.  Why, you ask, are we together?  Well, dearest Gin, during ourlast week together at camp, we collectively decided that it would be wicked to go through our school transfer programs and take a little trip to __England__.  So Lorey, Kay and I all owled our mothers during that last week at camp, and they got it all arranged with our schools so that we'd be able to "learn the advantages and disadvantages of boarding school and appreciate the unique culture of _Europe___."  Yes, that's right Ginny.  Not only did you put up with us for an entire month, you will now be with us, 24-7, for an ENTIRE YEAR!!  How BOMB is that!?  We'll be coming to Hogwarts on September 2; you'll have to show us the ropes and everything.  Mom had to go  and get us all those weird school robes you guys wear over there; they're very…interesting.  Kay thinks they're great fun- she wants to wear one all the time, with nothing under!  Just playing, she doesn't, not REALLY (though I'm sure she does, knowing that perverted little mind of hers…).  In any case, yeah…I can't wait to meet all those kids you've been talking about all summer.  Slyths and Griffs, or whatever you call them.  I want to meet that kid that thinks he's hot shit, whats-his-face, Boy-Who-Saved-The-World, and kick the shit out of him for messing with you.  Then I want to meet every other eligible boy at Hogwarts, and…well, you know.  Juuuust kidding!  Anyways, we'll see you soon, sweetling!_

_                        With love, precious,_

_                                        Lex_

        _Dear Gin,_

_                        This is Kay.  We're COMING TO HOGWARTS!  BEWARE, LOVEY.  WE'RE GOING TO DRIVE YOU NUTS!!_

_                        Love to you, Ginny thing,_

_                                        Kay_

_                        P.S.- Those robes are sexy.  I'm gunna wear 'em all the time!_

_        Ginny,_

_                        I'm sure you've already read Lex's letter about us coming to Hogwarts as transfer students.  I'm so excited, I think I'm going to explode!  I hope there are lots of hot boys to drool over….it would be such a drag if there weren't.  Though judging by your descriptions, I don't think I'll have too much to worry about.  Oh, by the way, me and Kay spent the night at Lex's house, and last night they streaked  my hair blue!  It looks tight!  You'll see it soon, in any case- you're going to FREAK! Love you much, baby.  See you soon!_

_                                        -Lorey_

_                        P.S-Can I meet Draco?  He sounds hot as hell-you should do him!_

                Speechless, Ginny lay back on her bed, and let the news sink in.  Suddenly, it hit her: her friends were coming to Hogwarts for a year!  'An entire…year…oh CRAP!!!'  Ginny thought, panicking.  'Who was the criminally insane person that decided that those three, us four, could be together for an entire year without causing any major disturbances in, well, everything?!!?!  No one will survive!  Whoever approved of the transfer should be shot!' With her mental tirade over with, however, she realized that this could potentially be the best year she could ever hope to have.  Barring physical injury, expulsion from Hogwarts, and mental trauma, this could actually be a good thing.  Her three best friends had decided to stay with her at school for an entire year!

                'Yes,' Ginny thought, now relaxing on her bed, stretching her arms out lazily, 'this could definitely turn out to be a good thing…and what was that thing that Lorey had mentioned…something about Draco?...he looked fine today…' and with that and a trace of a smile on her face, she turned over on her side and drifted off to sleep.

A/N:  PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!  I would desperately like to know if anyone likes where this story is headed; if they like it so far, etc.  Any type of feedback, even negative, would be absolutely fantastic.  It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside to know that someone actually took time out of their lives to send me a little piece of their mind.  –Jaylana88


	4. Train Rides and Smirking

Title: The New Ginny Weasley

Author: Jaylana88

Pairing: Ginny/Draco, mostly.  Will be some Ron/Lavender, and Harry/Hermione sprinkled in.

Rating: R, for language and some explicit content that would probably traumatize young ones

A/N: The usual author's noteà I do not intend to copy, infringe upon, or abuse the characters I have borrowed from J.K. Rowling, but if someone thinks I am, try not to sue.  I have no money.

The New Ginny Weasley

Chapter 4: Train Rides and Smirking

                Stepping through the barrier to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters after Ron, Harry and Hermione did, Ginny glanced over the students milling about, waiting to get onto the train.  She heard another person come through the barrier, and moved to get out of the way, except when she tried to move, a firm hand on her shoulder prevented her from doing so.  Turning, she raised startled eyes to meet with Percy Weasley's warm gaze.  "Perce, you came!  I thought you had to work today!" Ginny exclaimed, then embraced her brother tightly.

                "I wouldn't miss seeing my favorite sister off for another year at Hogwarts.  Besides, something told me that you would be having an exciting year, and that I had better wish you well when I had the chance," said Percy, returning the hug, before stepping back and smiling down into Ginny's face.

                "Perce, I'm your _only sister…"_

                All of a sudden, the train whistle blew, and the doors opened for boarding.

                "Oh, I've got to go!  I'll miss you, Perce!  Write me!" said Ginny, and gave Percy a quick peck on the cheek.

                While Ginny's ear was close, however, Percy decided to take advantage and whispered quickly, "Don't get into too much trouble with Draco, sweetie.  Dad told me all about Diagon Alley, but Merlin knows what Mum would say…."  Then as quickly as his words had come, he had stepped back from her and was walking away, a wicked, rare smile on his composed face.  Shocked, Ginny quickly reviewed what had just happened.  'Getting into trouble with Draco?  Diagon Alley!?  My father!?  And PERCE!?  Why that wicked, no good, bloody…and to imply that…!' she seethed, but was interrupted when an amused voice said, "Wow Gin, it's the first day back and you're already brassed off!  Come on, we need to get a compartment, else we'll be split up again like last year."

                "Colin!  I missed you!" screeched Ginny, when she had finally recognized the tall, brown-haired boy standing in front of her, waiting somewhat impatiently.

                "Yes yes, I'm changed.  New man, and all that rubbish.  Now come on!  Let's get going!" And with that, he pulled her towards the train, trunk and all, and shoved her into the nearest empty compartment.  Storing away their trunks up top with ease, he turned towards Ginny to properly greet her this time, only to have her squeeze the life out of his waist in what would pass as a very affectionate hug.

                "Oh my GOSH, I can't believe it!  Look at you, Colin!  You're, well, gorgeous!  What have you been DOING!?" she squealed, then squeezed him tightly once more before stepping back a foot to examine the rest of him.

                Colin and her had been friends since second year.  After her 1st year, let's-kill-the-students-while-under-a-trance episode with Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets, it was understandable that some people would shy away from her, so it was difficult for Ginny to make close friends.  People were always nervous around her.  But Colin, when he realized that Ginny looked lonely far too much, took it upon himself to befriend her, and they had quickly become inseparable.  There had even been a bit of a romantic interest at the beginning of their 4th year, except for the three facts that, one, Ginny would not allow it, as it would ruin their friendship, two, Colin, by that time, had done nearly every eligible girl in Gryffindor and boasted several other scattered conquests among the various other three houses, and three, Colin, after snogging almost every girl mentionable in polite conversation, had realized that he was completely, irrevocably gay.  Since his self-discovery, the only person he had seen fit to confide in had been Ginny.  That trust had grown over the years, and had now come to the point where Colin knew almost everything about her, and that she knew almost everything about Colin.  

                This was exactly why his appearance shocked her, however, because though she had known that he had gone to California to visit his grandparents for the summer and had been working out all this time, she was entirely unprepared for the new, in an entirely platonic perspective, sexy, attractive, tanned Colin Creevey.  He had shot up to 5"9' from his original 5"5', but had grown wider as well, broader in the shoulders and back now than before, with toned muscles all over, and had also grown out his hair so that stray wisps were beginning to fall into his eyes, giving him a rakish, fresh look.  

                "Stop looking at me like you want to eat me, Gin, and maybe you should take a look at yourself before you say anything more about how much I've changed.  I suspect Kaylara, Lorelia and Alexandria are all partly to blame for your new wardrobe?" he said teasingly, before glancing down at her choice of clothes appraisingly.  "You really do look smashing, Gin.  Years older, I'd say." And it was true.  The black clunky two inch heels she wore along with the dark blue, slightly loose low riding jeans and low-cut white V-neck shirt revealed her slim but curvaceous figure as well as the golden tan skin she had developed over the summer.

                "Thanks, Colin.  You always did know how to make a girl feel special." Ginny said cheekily, reaching up to ruffle his hair a bit, before she was interrupted by the door to her compartment sliding open which caused both Colin and Ginny to turn towards the three people, two of which towered in the doorway and one of which could barely be seen behind the others, who had decided to ruin their friendly bonding moment.

                "Well, well…" said the deep voice of Blaise Zabini, with a hint of cold amusement, "What have we here?"  His blue-eyed gaze, with one brow raised, raked over the both of them, then settled on Colin, flicked down once and then all the way up back to the younger boy's angry eyes.  

                "Excuse us for interrupting," drawled Draco Malfoy, in a scathing tone, "but what are you two doing in our compartment?"

                'That flirt!' fumed Draco.  'What's she doing in here with Creevey!?  She's too good for him!  She belongs to me!...wait.  WHAT did I just say!?'

                "Well Draco, Colin and I were just having quiet an enjoyable snog session," Ginny said, rolling her eyes sarcastically, noticing that Draco's eyes flashed at the mention of Colin, "when you decided to interrupt us.  And since WHEN is this YOUR compartment?"

                Draco said nothing, still too caught up in his…anger?..'Definitely NOT Jealousy', he thought, to say anything.

                "Draco, you're such a goon!  Snap out of it!" said Pansy, stepping out from behind the smirking Zabini, smacking Draco upside his head, which resulted in a sharp, "Ow!" from Draco, and a deep-throated, mocking laugh from Blaise.

                "And you!" said Pansy, turning to Blaise, poking him in the ribcage, which succeeded in wiping the smirk off his face.

                "Pansy, chill babe, we were just…playing with them," said Blaise calmly, still looking at Colin with intensity.  'And…something else?  Desire?  Oh Merlin!  Blaise wants COLIN!' Ginny thought while watching the two curiously, before turning back to look at Draco, who had been boring the most stunning grey eyes into her for the past minute now.  'Oh those eyes are going to give me a heart attack…' she thought dazedly.  'Wait- this IS Malfoy we're talking about.  Shut it, Ginny!'

                Blaise looked down sharply at the raven-haired girl who had by then arched her brow at him as if to say, "Oh, is that so?", and said, "Really," before flicking his eyes back up once more to meet Colin's challenging brown eyes, which widened imperceptibly.

                "Helloooo….oye!  Fine!  I'm sitting!  It's no use trying to break you all up, when you're practically undressing each other with your bloody eyeballs!" said Pansy, exasperatingly, and dropped herself down onto a seat, stretching her legs out mutinously.

                "WHAT was that, Pansy?" said Draco, tearing himself away from the attractive, wide-eyed redhead in front of him, turning to sneer at one of his best friends.

                Pansy smirked, "You heard me, sweetie.  Sit down, all of you.  The train ride's just started.  You can snog all you want once we get to Hogwarts."

                "I wouldn't snog the Weasel here if she were the last person on Earth!" said Draco abruptly.

                "Last **person?  You mean you're open to men as well, _Draco?" Ginny shot back scathingly, enunciating his first name sarcastically, then striding across the compartment to sit down in front of Pansy.  Draco opened his mouth to argue, but Pansy cut him off quickly:_**

                "Did I even mention snogging?  All I said was the undressing bit," she shot towards Draco.  "And would you _please _ease off on the hostilities for just a second?  Everyone sit down, and perhaps we can get a civilized conversation started.  As there are no other compartments open, this is the only place to be, _Gryffs," said Pansy, glaring at everyone._

                After Draco, Blaise and Colin had been seated, she turned to Ginny, who had been glaring daggers in Draco's direction not-so-discreetly, and asked, politely, albeit somewhat strained, "So Virginia, how was your summer?  You clean up quite well, you know."

                Ginny paused, and glanced over at Pansy strangely.  'In a creepy, bitchy, sarcastic way….I think she just complimented me.'

                "Well…I went to Sweden for a month," Ginny said, hesitantly, before continuing, "actually, some of the girls I met there are transferring to Hogwarts for a year.  They'll be here tomorrow.  I can introduce you to them, if you'd like," she offered.

                "That would be…alright, I think.  Are they going to be sorted?" asked Pansy, warming to the discussion while ignoring the stares she was getting from the boys in the compartment.  'What an odd way for a Slytherin to act…' thought Colin.  'What's going on here?'

                "I believe so.  First thing tomorrow, I believe," guessed Ginny.

                "What house do you think they'll be in?"

                "I've no clue, actually.  Their personalities are so insane, it's hard to categorize them…"

                "Well, if we're stuck in this compartment until we get to Hogwarts, we might as well make the best of it," said Draco in a somewhat reluctant voice.

                "I suppose…" said Colin quietly.

                "So how was your summer then, Gryff?" asked Blaise sarcastically.

                "You know, I always thought that civilized conversation required the use of _names_, but perhaps I was mistaken. Or perhaps _you _are, _Blaise_.  My name is Colin.  I suggest you address me as such," replied Colin lightly, but with an angry flash in his eyes.

                "Zabini," said Draco, smirking, "I hate to tell you this, but Creevey just told you off better than I've heard anyone in _Slytherin_."  Turning to Colin, he added, "You'd have done well in our house, I think.  I guess Gryffindors aren't all sugary sweet and _straight-up polite." Draco leaned back in his seat and stretched lazily, and, to all appearances, fell asleep._

                But he wasn't asleep.  With half-closed eyes, Draco observed Creevey and his friend, who, after a few half-hearted stabs at conversation, questioned Colin about his photography and drawings, which he had heard rumors about.  From there on, the conversation flowed smoothly, until Draco began to notice the subtle innuendos being placed into the dialogue:

                "I never said I _participated in such studies.  I only stated that I have merely heard of them.  Have you done many?"_

                "Only a few, but not many people are interested in posing nude in front of an amateur…"

                "Well perhaps you will find some subjects this year at Hogwarts.  People who are comfortable with their sexuality, and their bodies-" a scoff, "moi, for instance."

                Draco shifted,  'Good with the subtlety, Zabini.  Creevey'll react well to that…,' he thought.

                "You?!  I mean, you?  Well, perhaps.  It would make for an interesting study, certainly…"  'What?!' a startled Draco thought,  'Interesting study?  Hmm…and I thought this was a one-sided attraction, what with Blaise being gay and all that.  But if Colin's gay as well…' Draco trailed off as he felt someone, a particular someone right across from him, turn their eyes towards him.  Opening his eyes completely, he blinked once before turning to meet Ginny Weasley's gaze, who, instead of turning away modestly and blushing like most of the other girls he'd encountered, merely raised one eyebrow questioningly and smiled slightly, before turning back gracefully to Pansy who was in the middle of a detailed account of her summer.

                'Merlin she's hot…' thought Draco, before he could catch himself.  'Stop it, Draco!  She's a Weasley!' a voice, sounding very much like his father, threatened. 'Well she isn't like any Weasley I've ever met.  Ron Weasley is dumb as a doornail.  How could they possibly be related?'

                "Who's related?"  A curious voice broke into his thoughts abruptly.

                "What?" said Draco dimly, 'Did I say that out loud?'

                "Well you said, How could they possibly be related?, and I wanted to know who "they" were…" Ginny said, invitingly.

                "You and your brother," Draco injected, regaining his capacity for speech quickly and leaning towards her, "I mean, how could you two be related?  I mean, I see the obvious similarities…." He trailed off, glancing at her

                "The hair, for one…" Draco said, tugging lightly at a stray lock that had escaped from behind her ear.  "Though that's certainly different than before, so it's really not a similarity at all…"

                "Is that all?  Just the hair?" questioned Ginny, eyes locked with Draco's.

                "There's that annoying part where you're in the same house…" he drawled, "but other than that," he paused, leaning in a little closer, towards her ear, "everything else is entirely different."  Drawing back slightly, he gazed at her, and examined her smooth face, "Even the eyes…"  Ginny only nodded, her eyelids flickering delicately as she breathed in quickly, in order to regain her bearings.  But this only further reduced her to a puddle of hormonal girl, as her senses were overcome by his proximity to her.  His scent was intoxicating, wrapping around her and shooting through her veins, his eyes making currents flow across her skin.  

                'Oh she looks good enough to kiss, with her mouth open just like that…' Draco thought in a daze.  Her nearness was wreaking havoc on his body; heat rushed to his head and various parts of his lower body responded to the unadulterated sex appeal that was Ginny Weasley.

                "Ahem.  Hey guys?  Sex on the train _is prohibited, you know," said an amused female voice.  Immeditely, Ginny jerked and pulled away.  Disappointed, Draco blinked to quell the scintillating thoughts in his head and leaned back once more.  'Get yourself under control, Draco,' he thought, 'You're acting like a hormonal 5th year!'_

                "We'd better get our robes on," Blaise said suddenly, looking out the window, "we're about five minutes away."

                "Boys.  Out," Ordered Pansy.

                "Can't we stay?" said Draco, smirking mischeviously.  "We'll be good, promise.  We'll, _I'll _be good, at any rate.  Can't say the same for these two…"  The boys trudged, grumbling, and shut the door.

                After the girls had changed quickly into their robes, it was boys' turn.  As Colin and Blaise, along with Draco, turned to change, Ginny turned towards the door, but when Pansy made no move to leave, Ginny sat down next to her, deliberately avoiding Draco's eyes.  Smirking at the redhead's obvious discomfiture, Draco pulled his black sweater over his head and dropped it on the seat, leaving him in a plain white shirt that showed off the toned muscles of his arms and directly contrasted with the slightly tanned skin that showed.  The movement caused Ginny to look up, and what she saw made her mouth drop open slightly.  Reaching up to the top rack of the compartment to grab his robes and a white button-down shirt, along with his tie, Draco's thin shirt rode up, revealing a taut lower stomach that made Ginny's eyes widen.  Seemingly oblivious to her gaze, though inwardly he was acutely aware of her keen observation, he carelessly tossed his robes onto the sweater he had taken off moments ago and pulled his shirt over his head in one fluid motion.  Turning towards his robes, he allowed Ginny a full look at the smooth expanse of muscle and skin across his back.  Her gaze traveled hungrily down his spine to where a line of his grey silk boxers peeked up out of his black slacks.  As Draco reached down to grab his white dress shirt lying on top of his robes, Ginny watched unblinkingly as the firm muscles stretching across between his shoulders moved underneath his skin.  She continued to watch him as Draco shrugged on his shirt and buttoned it up, slung the tie around his neck and tied it quickly, pulled his sweater over his head, and then donned his robes.  A sharp sense of loss flooded her as Draco clothed himself once more.  Finally able to look away, she looked out the window to see the looming turrets and gleaming stone of Hogwarts, and felt the train slow down.  As Colin and Blaise finished changing, Draco came and sat next to her, stretching lazily like a cat.  Avoiding his gaze studiously, she didn't notice that he had leaned down towards her ear until she felt his breath on her cheek.

                "Like that, did you?" he said in a low purr only heard by her as the train slowed to a stop and let out a hiss of steam.  A flush spread across her cheeks, and she gasped quietly, before willing herself to relax.

                "Yes, I liked that quite a bit…" she muttered sideways to him, watching as Pansy, Colin and Blaise talked idly, pulling down the trunks from the rack at the top of the compartment.  "Though next time," she whispered, "we should do something about the pants, and then leave the rest off instead of putting it back on." Draco's eyes widened, and he pulled back from her slowly.  Standing up, Ginny stretched, affording Draco with a nice outline of her generously curved body, and he had to stifle a groan.  Smiling audaciously, she grabbed the trunk that Colin had gotten down for her, and proceeded out the door with a flourish.

                "Drake! Let's go!"  With a start, Draco got up and grabbed his trunk as well, following Blaise out.

AN: Thanks to everyone for all the reviews so far.  The feedback has been wonderfully insightful and has given me a better grasp of my writing.  However, I do want to respond to some reviewers, though this will be a kind of general response, and not directed to any particular person.

1.  This will NOT, I repeat NOT, be a lovey-dovey, let's-raffle-off-each-girl-to-their-prospectively-compatible-partners-so-that-we-have-a-nice, neat-happy-ending, story.  There will be various pairings that are obvious (since I have included the title of "Pairing" in each chapter since I first started this story), but other than that, it's a toss up as to who ends up with who, and who gets it on with who.  Mind you, those two are mutually exclusive; characters in this story that hook up will not necessarily end up together.

2.  Someone said something about Draco/Hermione.  What does that MEAN!?!  This is a hardcore D/G fic- it will not lean towards anything even remotely resembling a D/H shipper at all.  With the exception of some brief reconciliations and instances of compromise and grudging truce, there will be no interaction between those two unless absolutely necessary to the plot.  So…yeah.  I apologize to the person who wrote that into their review, but I am horrified even by thoughts of that potential relationship; if you simply meant interaction between Draco and Hermione however, and nothing implied besides possible friendship, then I take back everything I have just said and never you mind.

3.  I don't like The Dream Team.  Ron, Harry and Hermione can be useless, nosy little freaks and I am not feelin' that at all.  Though there are options for future redemption for these three, especially for Harry, Hermione comes across to me as an obnoxious brat.  (Sorry to all those Hermione fans out there!) I'll keep the Hermione-bashing to a minimum, however, and will keep her in character as much as possible.  Which means that she'll be normal, and not some psychotic, irate, raving little know-it-all.

4.  Harry, despite what some people may think, will NOT be in love with Ginny in this story.  Since I wrote, "Pairing: Ginny/Draco, mostly.  Will be some Ron/Lavender, and Harry/Hermione sprinkled in," I should think that would be obvious.  Harry and Hermione will get all wrapped up in each other in a bit, promise.

And I'm done with that.  Sorry if any of it seemed a little bit angry.  I was just getting frustrated with people misinterpreting some things.  (Like the goddamn pairings, for instance…).  Please no one take this personally.  Every review I've read so far has been helpful to me.  I was just clearing some things up.  Thanks to everyone who reviewed, again, and let me know what you think!  I'll get the next chapter posted soon! 

-Jaylana


	5. Transfers

Title: The New Ginny Weasley

Author: Jaylana88

Pairing: Ginny/Draco, mostly.  Will be some Ron/Lavender, and Harry/Hermione sprinkled in.

Rating: R, for language and some explicit content that would probably traumatize young ones

A/N: The usual author's noteà I do not intend to copy, infringe upon, or abuse the characters I have borrowed from J.K. Rowling, but if someone thinks I am, try not to sue.  I have no money.

The New Ginny Weasley

Chapter 5: Transfer Students??

                Ginny and Pansy strode into the Great Hall, flanked by Draco, Colin and Blaise.  All talking ceased the moment they walked in, and whispers spread down the house tables, streams of, "What the hell!?" and "Oh my GOD!" echoing throughout the room.

                Ignoring this, Ginny turned to Pansy and said, "I'll talk to you later then?"  Pansy nodded, and Ginny smiled in return, "Well Colin?  Shall we?"  Ginny strode over to the Gryffindor Table, and Colin trailed after her, smiling back briefly at the Slytherins, before jogging to catch up to Ginny.  The three watched until Ginny had sat down at her usual seat in the middle, and then walked to their own table, taking their usual places.  As Draco waited impatiently for Dumbledore to speak, an angry, "Ginny!  Just what do you think you're doing!?" arose from the Gryffindor table.  He smirked, snickering quietly to himself, knowing that it was Ron who had just shouted.  'Maybe he'll get so angry he'll give himself a heart attack, and I won't have to deal with him anymore,' Draco thought hopefully.  Leaning forward, he tried to catch Ginny's response, and got:

                "Doesn't matter…my friends…..no business of yours!" was the quiet response.  'Friends?' Draco pondered, idly.  'Yes I suppose we are…all of us, then.  We wouldn't be friends if one of us hadn't gotten out of that compartment alive, but, remarkably enough, here we are.'

                "Drake, check it out.  It looks like Weasley's going to explode!" nudged Pansy, shaking Draco out of his thoughts, gesturing in the general direction of the Gryffindors.

                And it was true: Ron's faced had turned an odd shade of reddish purple, and his arms had begun to wave wildly about.  He was facing Ginny, standing up and screaming in her face.  He looked furious.

                But if Ron looked furious, then Ginny was positively spitting.  'She's lovely when she's angry,' noticed Draco.  A becoming flush had spread across her cheeks, and her eyes flashed oddly.  'Merlin, was that…silver in her eyes!?  Just the lights, I suppose…' Draco frowned, wondering if he had just been seeing things.

                "Attention, students!" rasped a quiet but powerful voice.  The entire hall quieted, and Ron glanced up from the argument he was just beginning with Ginny and grimaced, before taking his usual seat next to Harry angrily.  Ginny turned towards Dumbledore to listen, unaware of the fact that two people were staring at her oddly once more.

                "This year, as always, the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students.  Curfews, also, have remained the same.  First through fourth years, curfew is 9:30, fifth years and above, curfew is, once again, 11:30."  A collection of groans rippled through the older students at Hogwarts with that particular announcement.

                "I am happy to say that this year, the Hogwarts Head Girl will be none other than Miss Hermione Granger, and the new Head Boy will be…Draco Malfoy!  Prefects this year will be…" the names were drowned out as students began to whisper furiously about this recent turn of events.  'Draco's Head Boy!?' thought Ginny dazedly.

                "You'd think it'd be Harry, since Dumbledore's always favored him," muttered Colin, leaning slightly towards Ginny.  She nodded mutely. 

                 'But then again,' Ginny thought, 'it _does_ make sense, because Head Boy and Girl are always the ones with the highest marks, and Harry is supposed to be horrible at Potions.  So Draco,' she came to the conclusion, '_should_, in fact, be Head Boy.'

                "Draco deserves it," said Ginny, whispering furiously back to Colin, who looked a little shocked before a look of understanding came over his face and he nodded wisely, turning back to Dumbledore to listen to the rest of the announcements…

                "Also this year, Hogwarts has decided to participate in an overseas transfer program with various wizarding schools in the United States.  Three transfer students will be staying with us this year, as if they were enrolled here at Hogwarts.  They will arrive here tomorrow, and their sorting will take place immediately at breakfast."  Interested remarks went up around the room, some excited gasps and some grumblings of, "_Americans…"  Ginny grinned with delight, before forcing herself to relax and pay attention once more._

                "In addition to that, Hogwarts will also be holding another Yule Ball the day before Christmas vacation, along with a formal Spring Dance in April," Dumbledore said, before beaming at his gaping students.

                "And now that all of that has been taken care of, on to the Sorting!"  Talk arose quickly about Dumbledore's announcements, which was quickly silenced by the Sorting Hat's booming voice as it recited this year's clever rhyme.  Then Professor McGonagall stepped forward, and said, "Alba, Susan!"

                "Hufflepuff!"  Cheers rose from the Hufflepuff table as the little first year made her towards them shyly.

                "Bodin, Elisa!"

                "Slytherin!"  The Slytherins cheered, and Draco, Blaise and Pansy all got to their feet to welcome the narrow-eyed, blonde-haired girl who sat down at the end of the table hesitantly.  And it went on like for a while, the first years being divided up into their houses quickly, with their new houses quickly welcoming them into the fold.  Finally the last first year, a tiny little girl with flowing black hair and blue eyes that looked oddly familiar, stepped up to the Sorting Hat determinedly.

                "Zabini, Marie!"  A slight pause, and then…

                "Gryffindor!" shouted the Hat.  Blaise looked shocked, then strode all the way across the Great Hall to where his little sister was and gave her a big hug, before leading her over to sit her down at the Gryffindor Table.  "Treat her well, or you'll answer to me, and the rest of us," he said, in what was supposed to be a light tone, but with a threatening undertone that left nothing unsaid.  "Bye baby," Blaise said, smiling slightly at Marie.

                "Bye Blaise…" Marie pouted, before turning to the girl next to her and saying, "So this is Gryffindor, eh?" with a slight smirk, reminiscent of Blaise's and the rest of the Slytherins' trademark facial expression.

                Walking back to his own table, he narrowed his eyes at the few Slytherins who were pointing at Marie, and growled out, "If any of you even think of speaking about my sister in a negative manner, you will not wake up tomorrow, I guarantee you."  With that said, he settled himself down next to Draco again.

                "Well that wasn't entirely unexpected…" said Draco, letting the superior expression on his face dictate his "I told you so" attitude.

                "Oh shut it, Drake.  Just because you called that doesn't mean you have to rub it in my face."

                "And let the feast begin!" said Dumbledore, and trays of food magically appeared in front of their eyes.

                Helping herself to a large serving of mashed potatoes, Ginny talked quietly to Colin.

                "So what's this thing with Blaise, babe?  I saw you two on the train…he looked like he wanted to eat you!" Ginny whispered mischievously.

                "No he didn't!  We were just having a nice, civilized conversation about photography!  And artists…and…and, erm, hands…" Colin gulped nervously when he glanced sideways at Ginny to see her grinning triumphantly at him.

                "I knew it!  You've got the hots for Zabini!" she crowed softly, delighted.

                "Ginny!  Enough of that!  Besides, I don't even know if he, well…you know.  Is into _that…" Colin sighed, "though it'd be nice if he were."_

                "Well, we'll just have to find out…" she said, and glanced towards Blaise, where he was eating and talking quietly with Draco and Pansy.  When all three looked up at the same time, Ginny smiled broadly at Colin, then looked back towards them and gave them a little wave.  Startled, all three stopped what they were doing and arched various eyebrows simultaneously, before recovering and gesturing at them in response.

                "Whoa, they've got that eyebrow bit down to a science- I wonder if they take classes for it…" Ginny said, snickering to herself.  Colin laughed, and they both turned back to the Gryffindor table to eat.  At the Professor's table, Dumbledore watched the exchange with a mysterious glint in his eyes.

                But Dumbledore wasn't the only one to take note of the exchange.  Harry Potter, for one, and Hermione Granger, for another, watched as well, with equally horrified expressions plastered onto their faces as a reaction to Ginny's audacity.

                "Well," said Hermione stiffly, "what do you think of her _now,_ Harry?"  Harry thought back to the first time she had asked him that, back at The Burrow when Ginny had walked through the entrance to the kitchen, looking like she was older than _him…..[flashback]_

                'Wha…what?  Ginny?  She looks gorgeous!' Harry thought wildly, mouth agape, as she strode confidently into the room after saying something to Mrs. Weasley.  'How come I never noticed her before?' he thought, thinking back to all the times she had been near him, not knowing how incredibly attractive she was.

                (Later, at the breakfast table)

                "Harry," Hermione whispered urgently, "what happened to Ginny, do you think?"

                "Well, she grew up, I guess.  She's certainly…changed…" said Harry in a low, slightly wistful tone.

                "What, you fancy her or something?" Hermione said sharply, glancing across the table quickly to eye Ginny.  Harry risked a glance too, and then quickly turned his head back towards Hermione as Ginny noticed that someone was watching her and brought her head up to meet their gazes curiously.

                Turning back to Harry, Hermione ducked her head and continued, quietly, "So you _do _fancy her," she stated.

                "No no…" he said quickly, "it's just that she's very, erm, noticeable.  Now, that is."

                "As opposed to before, then," said Hermione lowly.

                "Well, yes.  I mean, I suppose," he said, a bit off-put by Hermione's interrogation.

                "Fine time to notice, Harry," she said sarcastically, "Fine time to notice."  And with that, she turned towards her plate and picked up her fork to help herself to some scrambled eggs.

[end flashback]

                "Well Harry?" said Hermione, a bit louder this time.

                "Erm, well.  It _is Draco, and the rest of those Slytherins," he said quietly, so that no one would overhear, "but they haven't really bothered us for a good while now, not since…well, _he _died," his voice turned bitter and sad at the thought of Cedric Diggory._

                "Harry…I'm-"

                "No it's fine, Hermione.  I guess what I'm trying to say is, since Ron's already a handful when he's angry, maybe we should leave Ginny be.  She's changed.  And we'll just keep it at that," Harry said firmly, nodding his head once to affirm his statement.

                "Well if that's what you want, Harry.  I was just a bit shocked, is all.  Ginny's never been, well, like that before…"

                "Suppose you'll have to get to accept it, Herm," said Harry, cutting her off, but before the look of hurt could spread over her face, he said quickly, "we'll all have to accept it.  Even Ron."

                When the last buttered roll had finally been snatched off the tray, students began stretching and filing out of the Great Hall, going in the direction of their various respective houses.  Ginny and Colin made their way towards the doors, exiting and turning towards the staircase that would take them to Gryffindor Tower.

                "Blaise…" someone asked.  Turning around, Ginny saw Draco, Blaise and Pansy exiting the Great Hall behind them, followed closely by Blaise's little sister Maria.  "Where's Gryffindor Tower, Blaise?" she asked.

                "You see that group of first years up ahead, Maria?" Blaise asked gently.  Maria nodded her head rigorously, and he said, "Follow them, and you'll get to Gryffindor Tower, okay?"

                "Okay.  Where do you sleep, Blaise?"  Maria asked.

                "In the dungeons, where the rest of the Slytherins sleep," smirked Blaise.

                "Well that's not right…." Frowned Maria, before shrugging it off and bouncing over to where the rest of the Gryffindor first years were looking upwards at the gigantic moving staircases with various expressions of shock, awe and horror.  Blaise watched his sister go, before walking towards Draco and Pansy, who had been waiting for him at the foot of the opposite staircase to where Ginny and Colin were headed.

                Curious, Ginny called, "Blaise!"  All three of them stopped, and looked at her expectantly.  "Are the Slytherin dorms really in the dungeons?" she asked, stepping towards them.

                "Are you joking?  It's freezing down there!" said Pansy, shuddering slightly.

                "Yes, and it smells like Snape's classroom," said Blaise, wrinkling his nose.

                "It's just good for our reputations if we let everyone think that we sleep in the dungeons," added Draco.  "The rumor does wonders for the ego," he said dryly, before glancing at Blaise and sniggering, and then catching himself as he did, stopping abruptly.  Ginny couldn't help the giggle that escaped, and clapped her hand over her mouth hurriedly.  Glancing at Colin, she saw him doing the same, snorting into his hand to cover the smile that threatened to overcome his entire face.  By this time, the hallways had cleared, with the rest of the students either still in the Great Hall sitting and talking or in their common rooms.

                "Well, we'd better go," said Draco, somewhat reluctantly.  "Perhaps sometime you Gryffs will be able to find the entrance to the Slytherin common room.  Though I highly doubt that," he said quickly, when he saw Ginny's eyes narrow at him, "because the entrance is in the oddest place imaginable.  Though," he added slyly, "you're welcome to try."  

                "Well, maybe I will," said Ginny, arching her brow at him challengingly.  And with a slight bow of his head at her response, Draco turned around and started walking away, Blaise and Pansy at his sides.

                Suddenly, Blaise walked back towards the Gryffindors.  Gazing at the two, he said seriously, "Take care of my sister, you two.  Gryffs are supposed to be act noble and all that shit, but I don't want Maria getting involved in the 7th year house feuds."  He looked down, frowning slightly, and Ginny realized how much his sister meant to him.  'He's genuinely worried," she wondered.

                "Don't worry about it, Blaise," said Colin smoothly, "we'll watch out for her."  He laid a hand on the taller boy's arm, and Ginny's eyes widened.  'They look _really good together…' she thought._

                Jerking herself out of her wandering thoughts, she said comfortingly, "Yeah Blaise, we'll make sure Maria's alright, and everything."

                Abruptly, Blaise stepped back from them and muttered, "It's not that she needs a babysitter or anything…" he looked at Ginny.  "But I worry for her," he said in a softer tone.  "Potter and your brother are in her house now, and…well.  I worry."

                "It's alright," Colin said reassuringly.  "We'll do what we can."

                Blaise took a breath, and seemed to want to say something more, but then decided not to, and stopped himself.  Straightening slightly, he nodded quickly and turned, striding towards Draco and Pansy who had been waiting for him at the end of the walkway.

                "Well that was interesting,_," said Colin lightly.  Turning to Ginny, he decided a change of subject was best.  "So what's up with you and Draco?  If _I didn't know better,_" he said, "I'd say he was flirting with you back there."  He looked at Ginny out of the corner of his eye to gauge her reaction as they started up the stairs to their own common room._

                "What are you talking about Colin?" she asked sharply.  "Since when does Draco Malfoy flirt with Weasleys?"

                "Since the train ride here," he said demurely, "I noticed you two were getting quite close…"

                "We were not!  If anybody was getting close, Colin," Ginny muttered, "it would be you and _Blaise_!"

                "Never mind that.  Come on Gin, I _know you.  You can't tell me that you're not in the least bit attracted to Draco!"_

                Ginny sputtered indignantly, but then sighed, and said, "Fine.  So maybe I'm attracted to him.  A little…" she trailed off when she saw Colin smirk.  "Stop that, you!  You're turning into a Slytherin, what with all the smirking you've been doing!"

                "Well what's so bad about being in Slytherin?  You were in that compartment with me; they seem like an alright bunch," said Colin reasonably.

                "I-you-argh!  Colin!  Stop it this instant!  You're just seeing things that aren't there!  And besides," Ginny paused, hesitating, "even if I were, in the smallest way, remotely attracted to him, he would never be caught dead with me in the first place…" turning her eyes down to look at the stairs she was climbing.  "So it doesn't matter, and I'd appreciate it if you just dropped the subject entirely."

                "Fine, dear," said Colin quietly, "we'll drop it," he finished, 'But only for now, though…' he thought determinedly, and resolved, 'I'll get them together if it's the last thing I do!'

                The two walked towards the portrait of the Fat Lady and followed a group of third years into the Gryffindor Common Room.

                "So what did you talk to them about?" asked Draco, not looking at Blaise as they strode down the darkened hallway.

                "I just told them to watch out for my sister," said Blaise offhandedly, "why, Drakey?  Jealous that I got to go back and talk to your girl?" he smirked, and glanced at Draco.

                "What girl?" Draco muttered.  "I don't recall having a girl…though I'm fairly certain _you,_ dear Blaise, have a boy," he drawled, turning the conversation onto Blaise with ease.  

                "It's true Blaise," said Pansy, joining in, "we would have been dumb and blind not to notice that you've got the hots for a certain brown-eyed Gryffindor," she exclaimed wickedly.

                "Oh enough of that, you two!" he said, exasperatingly.

                "Oh come on, Blaisey…" Pansy whined deliberately, knowing that the particular tone of voice she used to whine was what made him irritable and more prone to angry tirades that typically involved well-kept secrets being accidentally blurted out.  "You might as well admit it, sweetie.  We _know you."_

                "Oh get off it, Pansy!  You too, Drake!" he pointed a finger at Draco, who had just opened his mouth to speak.  He stomped towards a statue of a knight and glared at his two friends.  "Just because you piss me off doesn't mean I'll lose it and tell you anything!  I am NOT attracted to Colin!  So just leave it alone!"  Blaise said furiously.  He then turned towards the knight and pulled down the iron axe the statue held in its grasp.  The statue gave a shuddering gasp, and then its arm dropped all the way down, pressing into a crack in the wall, which opened up a darkened doorway.  Throwing one last infuriated glare at Draco and Pansy, he stomped into the Slytherin Common Room and all the way up to his dorm room.

                Draco and Pansy looked at eachother and blinked.

                "He's got it baaad…" Pansy said sympathetically of an absent Zabini, and followed Draco through the doorway and into the Slytherin Living Quarters.  The statue of the knight moved sideways behind them, hiding the doorway once more.

AN: I know I know- a bit short.  But this part was previously the first half of a humongous chapter.  I thought it would be better if I split them up and gave 'em to you separately though.  Hope you like it!  The next bit: stuff gets rollin' and relationships heat up ;)…. Hehe.  Please read and review, everyone!

-Jaylana


	6. PreChapter: Rages and Giddy Girls

Title: The New Ginny Weasley

Author: Jaylana88

Pairing: Ginny/Draco, mostly.  Will be some Ron/Lavender, and Harry/Hermione sprinkled in.

Rating: R, for language and some explicit content that would probably traumatize young ones

A/N: The usual author's noteà I do not intend to copy, infringe upon, or abuse the characters I have borrowed from J.K. Rowling, but if someone thinks I am, try not to sue.  I have no money.

The New Ginny Weasley

Pre-Chapter 6: Rages and Giddy Girls

                "Virginia Weasley!  Just what the bloody hell do you think you're DOING!!?  Prancing around with Malfoy and his minions; I won't have that from any sister of mine!"  Ron's purpling face rose into Ginny's vision as she walked into the Gryffindor Common Room with Colin right behind her.

                "Ron…." Ginny sighed, trying to get him to stop.

                "No Ginny!  I won't have it at all!  Malfoy's as good as You-Know-Who himself when it comes to the Dark Arts!  He's trouble, I know it.  Me 'n Harry've known it for ages!  And so have you!  Or have you not BEEN HERE FOR THE PAST SIX YEARS!?!" he roared.

                "Ron…"

                "I don't know_ what_ you're thinking….Malfoy!?  I mean…MALFOY!!?!  Not to mention Blaise, that arrogant twit, and Pansy as well.  Why are they paying you so much attention, anyhow?  I bet it's because of your attitude.  Why are you so much bitchier now?  And why are you wearing such…such indecent clothing!?  Mum would have a fit if she knew what you were up to on the first day back!  I ought to write her and-"

                "Ron!" Ginny exclaimed, exasperated.  "That's quite enough!  You will _not_ be writing to Mum, because I will.  You'll just muddle things up.  And who I'm friends with, and who I hang around with have nothing to do with you, whatsoever.  So stop going into raging fits of hysteria.  You're beginning to sound like a pregnant woman," she muttered.  "Next thing you know, you'll be askin' for those weird sandwiches with pickles."  Ginny wrinkled her nose distastefully, and scowled at her by-now gaping brother.  "Now if you excuse me, I am going up to bed.  Busy day tomorrow, and all."

                Regaining what little cognitive ability he had, Ron blustered, "But Gin…Malfoy!  And…clothes!  And…and..."  He stopped when he realized that one, he was just blurting out random words, and two, his little sister was smirking at him.

                "Well that didn't sound good at all.  Malfoy....and…clothes?" Ginny mimicked in a high-pitched voice, then tsked.  "Not good at all.  Well, in your point of view, I suppose it wouldn't be good," she said aloud, looking up as if she were thinking about it.  "But then again, Malfoy and clothing is such a bad combination.  We could just leave the clothing bit out, you know," she paused, then said, watching as a look of absolute horror washed over her brother's face.  "That would make things _much easier, don't you think Ronniekins?" She smiled innocently, then stretched up to pinch his flushed cheek teasingly.  Turning to Colin, she gave him a brief but sincere smile, which he returned, and with that sauntered up the stairs airily._

                Ron let out a breath, and turned to Harry and Hermione, who had been sitting on the couch watching the entire episode.  Opening his mouth, he was about to say something sarcastic like, "Well that went well," or "Gee, wasn't that bloody productive?", but was cut off by someone calling his name from the stairwell leading to the dorm rooms.

                "Oh, Ron?" Ginny asked, coming back with a sweet smile and a twinkle in her eye.

                "Yes, Gin?" said Ron nervously.  'Now when was the last time I saw _that look?' Ron thought distractedly._

                "By the way…" she started.  Standing in front of her brother, the smile that she had plastered onto her face before coming back down to get the final word in completely disappeared; instead, a scowl formed, and she leaned towards him menacingly.  'Odd how she seems to look just like Mum when she's angry,' Ron thought some more, 'And just _where_ was that look from!?'  His thoughts, however, were interrupted when Ginny looked him in the eye and opened her mouth.

                "NEVER, EVER, INSULT MY CLOTHING _OR MY ATTITUDE AGAIN!!"  she shrieked, and brought up her hands and gripped his shoulders to push him over the back of the vacated couch.  Ron stumbled, and his feet went over his head as he fell over the edge, flipping over completely and ending up on the floor in a messy heap of black robe and red hair.  Whirling, Ginny turned around and without glancing back, made her way back towards the stairs and up to the 6th year dormitories._

                Sitting on the floor, Ron leaned back against the couch and looked over at the remaining occupants of the Gryffindor Common Room, to find only Harry, Hermione and that photo-happy kid, Colin, who threw them an amused glance before finally disappearing up the stairwell.  Everyone else, after remembering the damage that Weasleys could do when in a rage, had quickly and quietly fled to their rooms in an organized effort of self-preservation (and protection from physical and psychological harm) after the first insult Ron had unthinkingly threw at Ginny, and they were now alone.  Ron looked at Harry, who just shrugged and got up, and then at Hermione, who smiled shakily at him before rising as well.  'Now I remember that look,' he realized with a start.  'The last time I saw her like _that, I ended up being walloped by Mum for breaking the window, after trying to blame it on Ginny to get out of trouble.'  Sighing, he picked himself off the floor slowly and followed his two friends up the stairs to the 7th year floor, muttering to himself lowly:_

                "Now why couldn't I have remembered that beforehand?"

-----------

                Ginny raked a hand through her hair and rapidly ascended the stairs to the dormitory she shared with her fellow yearmates.

                "Stupid, bloody brothers and their stupid, bloody tempers…" she complained under her breath, before throwing open the door, only to be greeted with squeals of excitement.

                "Ginny, that was brilliant!"

                "Way to go!  That brother of yours needed a lesson, anyway!"

                "He didn't hurt you, did he?"  
                "I like your hair!"

                "Where'd you get your robes, by the way?  They're smashing!"

                Utterly bewildered, she brought up her hands to shush them, but was stopped when someone grabbed her hand to examine her nails.

                "Why, even your nails are gorgeous!" exclaimed a blonde-haired girl who was currently inspecting Ginny's freshly self-manicured nails.

                Snatching her hand away, she offered a small smile and said a quiet "Thank you" before excusing herself and pushing through the surrounding girls to get to her bed.  Hoping to get away from the crowd of rambunctious females, Ginny sat down on her bed and rubbed a hand over her face wearily, but was once again bombarded with questioning and complimenting:

                "Oh you have to let me borrow that color!  Did you bring your nail polish with you?"

                "I can't believe you _highlighted your hair- it looks wicked!"_

                "Could you girls please _be calm!?!?" an exasperated voice exclaimed from the far corner of the dormitory.  All talking ceased, before muttered apologies surfaced and the group of girls originally bearing down on Ginny dispersed._

                "Thanks very much Becca," said Ginny as the girl who had spoken earlier walked over to her, smirking slightly.  Becca was the only tolerable girl in her entire year, it seemed most of the time, and the two had always gotten along considerably well, if only as mere acquaintances and not as the close friends she and Colin were.  Considering the fact that she transferred to Hogwarts from Beauxbatons in second year, however, her amiable and accepting attitude towards Ginny might have been simply because she had not been privy to the events of Ginny's horrific first year.  But one could always hope, and Becca was a typically relaxed and open-minded person.

                "Anytime then, Ginny.  It's good to see you, by the way," the two embraced, and said goodnight as Ginny walked off towards her trunk to pull out some pajamas.  'Well that was certainly a positive reaction,' she thought, thinking idly on the excitement her dormitory had just witnessed on her behalf.  Changing slowly, she reviewed everything that had happened today, stopping at important points.  'Like when Draco changed on the train…' Ginny thought wistfully.  'Merlin, he's absolutely gorgeous!'  (AN: Draco is, basically, so damn attractive, he makes me salivate).  Finished, she made a quick trip to the bathroom before climbing into bed with a satisfied sigh.  Turning over onto her side, she settled into her pillow, before her eyes drifted shut as sleep blissfully overtook her and images of warm tan skin and cool grey eyes danced in her dreams.  

A-N: Sorry this chapter, or pre-chapter, if you will, is so short, but this bit just seemed to go smoother on its own, and not squashed onto the bottom of Chapter 5 or tacked onto the top of Chapter 6.  So it's not really a chapter.  More like a prelude to a chapter (Hence the "Pre-Chapter 6" title that it was given at the top).  It's a semi-chapter.  (It's the diet coke of chapters, but I'll just NOT go there).  Anyways, I just barely managed to get this posted on ff.net tonight, because I am currently swamped with homework, in addition to essays of all shapes and sizes.  This large, academic obstacle, however, will be overcome!  I **WILL TRIUMPH, I TELL YOU!  Ahem.  But yes, I was, and actually still am, very busy, and was barely able to get this up in order to appease my guilty conscience over not updating consistently.  Hopefully, this will tide you over until tomorrow, when things get rolling.  The New Ginny, Chapter 6 (called "Bloody Americans") will be up as soon as possible, and hopefully I'll be able to add a chapter about every day after that.  I'd also like to blurt out some things that have been circulating around my mind since I read some of the reviews left by the wonderful people that were kind enough to read this story:**

**Nirvana: **Here's your shoutout, babe!  I haven't been including them since the beginning of the story simply because I haven't had the time to read my reviews and think up nice, thoughtful answers for them until today.  Also, I apologize for the lack of humor (I _did _stick it into the Romance/Humor section in order to actually make it at least a little funny), but a lot of things needed to be established in the last couple of chapters, and it didn't seem right for me to stick in random bits that would make you laugh and then have the rest of it be much more serious and information-filled.  Of course, I could be entirely wrong; it probably would have been perfectly acceptable for me to have put in a bit more humor all around, to make the whole mood lighter, but then again I'm new to this.  I don't know if I could actually balance out the humor and drama and the ensuing romance to make this story interesting and not a piece of shit, but I'll try my hardest, just for you :).  And yes, this story will have a bit of slash in it, as I think a Blaise/Colin pairing is just COOL.  They'll be good together, I promise, so don't stop reading just cuz of a little thing like that!  I might actually get you a little interested in it…(though I doubt it).  Just stay open- it turns out well, I think.  Anyways, thanks for the lovely review, and keep reading!

**SocratesAngel****: Thank you for the review, gal!  I too, am obsessed with G/D.  Obviously.  But anyway- no, Ginny will not end up a slut.  At least, she ain't a slut in my eyes.  Though a very conservative person could think very differently and label Ginny as a slut, instead of an intelligent individual who is learning to thrive on her independence and self-image.  But whatever.  Thanks again!**

**Silver Dragon Mist: **I'm glad you like it, and you'll just have to wait and find out what the hell is going to happen with Ginny's budding "abilities"….lol :).

**Mooniala**** Trials: Thank you for taking the time to review, and I'm so happy you 've enjoyed the story so far, and I'm _really glad you liked how Blaise and Pansy turned out, since I was nervous about that part.  They are supposed to be nasty people, but as this story does center around the capacity for change in each individual, I thought it would be alright if I messed with their characters a bit.  Anyways, glad you liked 'em!  Keep readin', and thanks again!_**

Once again, thanks all.  Check for an update tomorrow, and it'll be there.  Promise!

-Jaylana


	7. Bloody Americans

Title: The New Ginny Weasley

Author: Jaylana88

Pairing: Ginny/Draco, mostly.  Will be some Ron/Lavender, and Harry/Hermione sprinkled in.

Rating: R, for language and some explicit content that would probably traumatize young ones

A/N: The usual author's noteà I do not intend to copy, infringe upon, or abuse the characters I have borrowed from J.K. Rowling, but if someone thinks I am, try not to sue.  I have no money.

The New Ginny Weasley

Chapter 6: Bloody Americans…

                When Ginny awoke the next morning, the first thought that flitted through her mind was, 'Mmm…Draco…'  She rolled over onto her stomach and buried her face in the pillow, desperately trying to escape the beams of sunlight that trickled through her bed curtains and warmed her face.  Suddenly, she shot up, hair flying into her face as she let out a yelp.  'Oh Merlin, they're coming!'  she thought, gasping.  And it was…'ALMOST BREAKFAST!?!  "SHIT!!!" shrieked Ginny.  Stumbling out of bed, she looked frantically around as her roommates all wandered around preparing for the day, ignoring her outburst, as they had become used to such exclamations by now after five years of living with the excitable redhead.

                'Fifteen minutes…' was her only thought as she grabbed her towel and rushed to the bathroom to shower quickly and make herself look at least halfway decent.  'Two minutes flat!  A new record!'  Ginny crowed, thinking to herself as she exited the shower and dried herself off, walking quickly back to her bed to grab her wand, some clothes and a small makeup bag.  Coming back to the bathroom, her hair went from dripping wet to falling lightly around her face with a quick-dry spell she muttered.  She threw off the towel and pulled on her dark grey pleated skirt, then brushed her hair out while simultaneously pulling on her bra.  "Oooh..." she said sarcastically under her breath, "I am the master at multi-tasking…."

                Pulling on a white spaghetti strap top, she then shrugged on an oversized white button-down shirt, rolling the cuffs up once then buttoning the cuffs so that she could use her hands.  Grabbing the makeup bag she had set on the countertop, Ginny turned to the large full-scale mirror on the back of the door to rub in a hint of blush, then applied some mascara and cream-colored eye liner that was barely visible on her skin and dabbed on some lip gloss.  Finished, she washed off her hands and stepped back to examine the finished product standing in the mirror.

                Wide lush eyes stared back at her, a smooth complexion and long, slender legs surprised her.  Satisfied, she looked at her face once more, smiling slightly as she noticed that the makeup tips she had learned from Lorey had evidently paid off, as her eyes looked wider and her face more mature.

                "Guess there are still some things you just gotta do yourself," Ginny said, smiling at her reflection.  Grabbing her towel and bag, she opened the door, cool air pushing her hair back from her face, and walked to her trunk.  She tapped the side of it twice, and a large compartment filled to the brim with shoes and boots of all sorts slid open.  Grabbing a pair of soft leather clunky-heeled black boots, she sat on her bed and tugged on a pair of low socks, and slid her boots on.  Glancing at her clock, she realized that she had only a minute to spare before breakfast officially started.  Grimacing, she stood up, grabbed her black school robe and book bag from the hook on the side of her bed, and rushed out of the room, slamming the door shut on her way out.

----------

                "Where the FUCK are they!!?!"

                Draco rolled over, and was about to mutter, "Could anyone care _less _where _they _are?" but ran out of energy and decided to abandon his original statement, and settled for whatever came out of his mouth first, which happened to be an indistinct "Mmph".

                "Draco!" someone yelled.  "I know you've done something!   Get the fuck up and show me where all my bloody boxers are, you asshole!"

                'What boxers?' Draco wondered sleepily, burying his head deeper into the pillows to get away from the voice that persisted in pestering him to full consciousness.  'Oh.' He suddenly thought.  'It's _Blaise.  That's why I'm so bloody tired,' he realized, then smirked inwardly, 'I hid them all on the top of his bed frame last night.'_

                "DRACO!  MY…BOXERS!"  the voice heaved, and suddenly the curtains around his bed were ripped open and his nice, warm comforter was taken from him, leaving him completely, utterly naked, sprawled openly on his bed.

                "That was not a good way to start off my day," muttered Blaise after a short pause, looking mildly disgusted at Draco's unabashed nudity.

                "F'yuh don' like it, go to hell, bitch," a muffled voice said thickly from within a sea of fluffy pillows.  But Blaise wasn't around to hear Draco, as he had stormed away somewhere.

                Relieved that he had gone, Draco felt around for his comforter, and found it at the foot of his bed.  Sighing sleepily, he threw it over his head, only to have it ripped away once again.  But instead of just the air hitting him, ice cold water hit the middle of his body and splashed onto his face, drenching his pillows and making him sputter indignantly, and he shot upright immediately.

                "Now who's the bitch?" said a smirking Blaise lightly, before grinning at the murderous expression on Draco's face.

                "I'm going to kill you for that, Blaise," said Draco angrily, squinting at his friend through dripping water and bright sunlight.  

                "You'll have to get rid of _that first, Drakey," drawled Blaise, nodding towards his groin.  Looking down, he took in the state of arousal he was in, and thought back to the dreams he had had last night.  'Red hair, lots of nakedness...' he wondered, then quickly stomped on that train of thought as his body reacted to the erotic visuals flashing through his mind.  He glanced back up and saw that Blaise had turned and found his boxers hanging from his bed frame, and was now in the process of retrieving them by jumping up and down like a maniac, pulling them down one by one.  Snorting at his friend's antics, he stood up slowly and stretched, and walked unashamedly to his closet, grabbing his robe and pulling it on._

                Walking towards Blaise, he paused momentarily, watching as his friend jumped up to wave his hands wildly, desperately trying to snag a finger onto the hem of his last pair of boxer shorts.  Shrugging, Draco watched a second longer, and then strode past, giving Blaise a careless shove while his friend was in mid-jump.  Not pausing, Draco kept walking as he heard a crash and a muttered, "Ow…"

                'Teach him to wake me up before I'm good and ready,' he thought, finally allowing himself to snicker when he reached the first bathroom.  7th years each had their own individual bathrooms, which they had claimed for themselves when they had gotten back yesterday.  Draco, knowing this, had been the first up to the dorms in order to quickly snag the first bathroom, and had then proceeded to set it up as similarly as possible to his bathroom at Malfoy Manor.  Locking the door securely behind him, Draco loosened his robe and tugged it off, depositing it on a silver hook on the wall.  Stark naked, he braced his hands on the counter and leaned towards the mirror that covered most of the wall, examining his still-pale complexion, even after a long summer of French beaches and classy hotel pools.  Frowning, he looked closer, and noted that his cheeks were slightly flushed.  'Probably from that dream…' he thought idly, then paused.  'That was a _really good dream…' he added.  'Yes, quite good…' he thought, not noticing that the tops of his cheeks had flushed a darker pink than before.  "I wonder if she's _really _that good in bed…" he said aloud softly._

                'Bet you she's better…' a seductive, dirty part of his mind whispered.

                Shaking his head, he forced himself to turn his thoughts to the day ahead, and opened the shower door to turn the water on.

                'Showers…Ginny…Ginny in the shower, with me, naked….red hair…ARGH!'  thought Draco, stepping into the stream of water.  Fiddling with the knob on the wall, he turned the water to icy cold in attempt to get himself entirely desensitized, but had no such luck.  Sighing, he gave up, turning the water back to hot.  And took care of his unbearable state of arousal quickly, with muscles clenched and lungs gasping as he came, leaning against the wall to catch his breath.  Relieved, he cleaned up and finished his shower, stepping out and drying himself off with a towel, then grabbed his robe and put it on quickly as he opened the door and walked out.

                Relaxed now, Draco sauntered back into the now-busy 7th year dorm rooms, realizing that today he wouldn't even have to come back and share living quarters with anyone for the rest of the year.  As Head Boy, he would have his own private room, at the end of the hall, closest to the bathrooms.  Absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't even register the fact that Blaise was nowhere in his line of vision, and only came back to himself when a huge pillow whacked him in the face with a loud, resounding thump.  The pillow paused momentarily, then slid down off his face to land heavily on the floor with another thump.  All noise in the dormitory room ceased, and only the sound of sharp gasps and a singular, "Oh shit…" as Draco blinked once and then looked down at the innocent, fluffy-looking pillow.  Looking up, he opened his mouth but was interrupted as an even larger pillow flew through the air and landed on his face, knocking him backwards a foot.  Instead of the thump that would normally have sounded after a pillow had hit the floor, there was nothing, as Draco caught it in his hands before it hit the ground and lifted it up behind him.  Blaise's eyes widened, and an "Oh, fu-" was all that came out of his mouth before a low snarl interrupted him and a pillow whacked him soundly across the head, so hard that he twisted around and fell back onto the nearest bed, flopping oddly twice before settling down against it, spread-eagle on his stomachand still on the comforter.

                Tossing the huge pillow back onto a bed, Draco walked over to his indisposed friend and raised an eyebrow under his now-disheveled hair that had been rudely forced into such a disreputable state by the pillow that had flown into his face earlier.  Sitting down next to Blaise, he glanced up and saw that his other roommates were watching curiously.  Narrowing his eyes at them, they quickly snapped out of such curiosity and went quickly about their business, some attempting to cram the rest of their books into already bursting book bags while others turned to finish dressing.  Turning back to Blaise, he found his friend shaking slightly, odd gasping sounds puncturing the shaking occasionally.  Frowning, Draco reached out and poked his friend's ribcage sharply.  Blaise flinched away slightly, then the shaking stopped, as did the odd gasping sounds he had been making when he sat up.  Looking at the strained sneer on his friend's face, Blaise launched into a fit of laugher, clutching at his stomach and shutting his eyes against the tears threatening to spill over.  Draco soon joined him, finally giving into the laughter that threatened to wipe the perpetual sneer off his face. Laughing hysterically, they collapsed onto the bed, which incidentally happened to be Draco's, with Draco in his robe and Blaise in his boxers, clutching their sides as their racket rebounded off the dorm walls and drifted across the hallways to the 7th year girls dormitory.

                "What the fuck is all that racket?!" exclaimed a muffled, whiny female voice.

                "Don't know…it's coming from outside, though," responded an equally muffled voice.

                "Maybe it's those killer whats-its, those wild squirrels that great oaf Hagrid caught, like that last time…" another voice added, trailing off.

                "Ungh…" muttered someone who obviously didn't care.

                "Damn all wild animals to hell…" growled the sleepy voice of Pansy, as she pressed a pillow to cover her head in an attempt to block out the insufferable noise.  'Why does the first day back always have to involve bloody animals making bloody noises, disturbing my bloody beauty sleep?' she wondered angrily, before shutting her eyes in a feeble attempt to get a few extra minutes of much-needed rest.  

-------------

                Even with Draco and Blaise collapsing into a fit of hysterical laughter, and Pansy being awakened by "wild animal noises", all three Slytherins still managed to make it to the Great Hall with minutes to spare before breakfast.  Ginny however, had barely reached the opened doors when Dumbledore called for silence.  Stopping silently, she backed away from the doors, planning on entering as soon as his first-day speech was over with and he had summoned breakfast. Quick footsteps and hushed chatter sounded from behind her, but she paid no attention to it, assuming that they were just students who had woken up late, just like her.  Daring a quick peek into the Great Hall, she glanced about, trying to find Kay, Lorey or Lex standing anywhere, off to the side, but found none of them.  Sighing, she retreated back behind the doors, wondering where they could possibly be.  

                Paying attention as Dumbledore began his list of announcements, she didn't hear the three people that had been walking towards her stop talking, and stop walking altogether.  She didn't notice that one of the three had begun to grin, or that the other two had clapped their hands over their mouths to stop their laughter.  And she definitely didn't notice, so absorbed was she in taking note of Dumbledore's announcements ("The Head Boy and Girl will be moved to their individual dorm rooms tonight.  Students, you know where to find them."), the outstretched finger that was aimed at her lower backside.  What Ginny _did notice, however, was when someone poked the side of her butt sharply, and she gasped and whirled quickly, her mouth in an indignant scowl.  The scowl, however was replaced by a round O as her mouth dropped open as her eyes settled on her assailants.  Squealing loudly, forgetting that she was standing in front of the wide open doors of the Great Hall, she launched herself at Kay first, who was grinning nastily at her, then Lex and Lorey, whose bright blue hair streaks glinted in the light, who were giggling helplessly behind her._

                "KAY!!!  LOREY!!!  LEX!!!" Ginny shrieked, hugging each girl excitedly, before releasing them abruptly as her ears perked up and detected something odd.  Well, her ears perked up and she detected….nothing odd at all, come to think of it.  Nothing, as in…silence.  'Uh oh,' she thought, and turned around, blushing slightly as she faced an onslaught of startled gazes and a handful of amused ones.

                "Well then," started the pleased voice of Dumbledore, "since Miss Weasley has announced their arrivals already, we may as well move on to that important announcement." He paused slightly, then said in a loud, clear voice, as to be heard by all:

                "Let me introduce our three resident transfer students from America, Miss Kaylana Taback, Miss Alexandria Wilson, and Miss Lorelia English!" Dumbledore announced, gesturing to the three young attractive girls standing around Ginny in the large doorway.  Hesitantly, the four, as one, strode down the center aisle between tables leading to Dumbledore, and stopped in front of the Headmaster.

                Beaming at the student body who was currently engrossed in staring either lustfully or curiously at Ginny, Kay, Lex and Lorey, Dumbledore exclaimed, "Let's give them a warm Welcome to Hogwarts round of applause, everyone!" and started clapping deliberately.  Smiling at the Headmaster, the four girls simultaneously turned confident expressions onto the students, expecting their applause.

                Startled out of their thoughts, students began to clap slowly, before more joined in, and the applause soon turned into hoots and catcalls as everyone in the Great Hall reacted to the equally powerful expressions on the faces of the stunningly beautiful girls before them.

                The Gryffindor table, surprisingly, was the first to quiet down, whereas the Slytherin table was the rowdiest of all, only calming down after Dumbledore had gestured for them to stop.

                Turning to the girls, the Headmaster said quietly, "You'll need to be sorted into your houses now, girls. Kaylana, just put on the hat on the stool and you'll be told which table to go sit at."

                Nodding, Kay walked to where the Sorting Hat sat on its stool, with Lorey, Lex and Ginny following her, and picked it up.  Examining it for a moment, she paused, and glanced up to lock eyes with Ginny.  Smiling encouragingly, Ginny nodded towards the hat, and Kay looked at it a moment more before jamming it onto her head violently. Silence, and then…

                "SLYTHERIN!" boomed the Sorting Hat.  Ripping the tattered old hat off her head, Kay looked around wildly, and then tossed the hat to Lorey quickly.  The Slytherin table began to applaud uproariously, thumping their goblets on the table raucously and laughing when Kay had chucked the Sorting Hat away from her.  Dazed, Kay stepped away from the stool to stand next to Ginny, who didn't look all that surprised.

                "Now you, Lorey," said Dumbledore gently, gesturing to her to put on the hat.

                Nervously, Lorey placed the hat on her head, squeezing her eyes shut and biting her lip.  Another moment of silence, and then…

                "SLYTHERIN!" the Hat called out again.  The Slytherin table cheered again, and Lorey took off the hat quickly and set it down on its stool, walking over to where Kay and Ginny stood, Kay smiling at her in excitement and Ginny nodding understandably.

                "And you, Lex," said the Headmaster.

                …..

                "SLYTHERIN!" The Hat finally called out, and the entire hall erupted into noise as complaints bounced off the walls from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, and the Slytherins whooped loudly as they called out to the girls.

                Ginny shook her head once, and moved towards the Gryffindor table, but a hand on her arm stopped her.

                "Gin, where the hell are you going?  You _are _sitting with us, aren't you babe?" shouted Lex over the din, tossing the Sorting Hat at Dumbledore offhandedly, who merely caught it and set it down on the stool once more.

                "Well, I suppose…" and no sooner had the words were out of her mouth, then was she being dragged across the room and towards the closest vacancies at the Slytherin Table, which happened to be at the very front, since the Slytherins tended to sit close together in the middle.  Draco, Blaise and Pansy, who always sat at the second table, greeted them warmly.

                "Hey girls, welcome to Slytherin," said Blaise, smiling mischievously.

                "We hope you enjoy your stay with us…" said Pansy, also grinning.

                "…because it'll be one hell of a flight!" finished Draco, smirking and glancing at Ginny out of the corner of her eye.

                Giving Blaise and Draco a once-over, Kay grinned wildly and exclaimed, "Well, _holy shit_!  Why don't we have these type a' boys on the West Coast?  They're so attractive I wanna do 'em right here!"

                Smiling cockily, the two boys acknowledged her odd American compliment with grace.  

                "Thanks, you're not too bad yourself," said Blaise, returning the compliment with one of his own.  Pansy, meanwhile, had exploded into laughter, her face lighting up in a broad grin as she exclaimed,

                "Why, you'll make bloody brilliant Slytherins!"

                "Thanks for that," said Lorey, as they noise in the hall quieted down and breakfast suddenly appeared in front of them.

                "Whoaaa….that's sick shit!" said Lex, gazing at the enormous piles of food in front of her with unfiltered adoration, sitting down and pulling Ginny along with her.  Kay and Lorey followed their example, settling down to look at all the food with awe. 

                "Gin, isn't this just the biggest amount food you've ever seen, ever in the world?!?" Lex babbled, gazing hungrily at the breakfast trays.

                "Ooooh, Gin!  Pumpkin juice!  Tiiiight!  This crap's supposed to be bomb!" said Kay excitedly, tugging at Ginny's sleeve.

                "I can't believe how cool this place is!  They just _give _you food!" squealed Lorey, gesturing animatedly.  Suddenly, the three girls stopped talking abruptly, and turned to Ginny simultaneously, who was struggling not to laugh at the identical expressions on her friends' faces.

                "Gin…this food _is for us, right?"_

                "Are we allowed to just take it?"  
                "We won't get into trouble, will we?"

                Ginny glanced at her friends, then looked at Draco, Blaise and Pansy, who had been watching the girls' gesturing and listening to their ramblings with equally bewildered expressions.

                "Please, Ginny?  I'm hungry…" pouted Kay, and Ginny finally broke down, causing the three 7th year Slytherins to laugh hysterically along with her.  Nodding, because she was unable to speak, Ginny waved at the food, which Kay, Lorey and Lex took as, "Go ahead and eat it."  They proceeded to load their plates with a huge assortment of foods, digging in quickly.

-----------

                Meanwhile, at the Gryffindor table, after discussing the new students with his two friends, Ronald Weasley had finally noticed that his sister was not sitting where she usually sat.  Looking around wildly, he spotted her, horrifyingly enough, at the head of the Slytherin table, laughing at those transfer student friends of hers that had walked into the Great Hall with her earlier.  But, more to the point, Draco, Blaise and Pansy all seemed to be _laughing along with her_!  Ron, angrily, shot up from his seat, which caused him to knock over his goblet of pumpkin juice, spilling it all over himself and Hermione.

                "Ron!" Hermione shrieked, brushing at the juice all over her robes.  Her shout caused Colin to lean over to check out what was happening.  As Ron looked angrily from his robes to the Slytherin table, Colin followed his gaze, and landed on Ginny Weasley's vibrant form.  Understanding, Colin leapt up and, while Ron was suitably distracted as Hermione gave another shout, he strode over to the Slytherin table, to warn Ginny of her brother's intentions.

-----------

                As her friends pigged out, Ginny breathed a sigh of relief and served herself some fruit.  She was never very hungry in the mornings.

                "You didn't seem very surprised that all of them made it into Slytherin," Draco commented lowly.  'Sitting next to her is _very _disconcerting…' he thought.

                "Yes well, when you know them like I do, nothing really winds up surprising me," Ginny responded dryly.  "You come to expect everything that a normal person _wouldn't _do."

                "I see," said Draco, amused.

                "Yes, you see," teased Ginny lightly, smiling at him slightly.  "And as for them getting sorted into Slytherin, I guess I'm not surprised because I suspected it all along.  Those three've got a vicious streak a mile wide," she said.

                "Hey, we have _ears, you know?" said Lorey._

                "Yes, those things…" said Kay absently, nibbling on a piece of waffle bigger than her face.

                "Horrid, they are," Ginny added, raising her voice deliberately.  "Those bloody Americans…"

A/N: Oh man I am so disgustingly sick!  I can barely see the damn computer screen.  Sorry this one measly chapter took soooo LONG….my computer decided to eat itself and not let me onto the internet, so I couldn't post the thing until about 1 in the morn, which it is right now.  Anyways, thanks all for patiently waiting, or not so patiently, whatever, for this chapter.  In the next bit….the Great Hall breakfast fight, new classes, lots of flirting, and perhaps even some bad *touching* in some equally bad *places*….LOL.  Oh I'm so tired.  I think I'll turn in.  Hope you enjoyed Chapter 6.  Please review!  Shoutouts next chapter!

-Jaylana


	8. Flirt With Me

Title: The New Ginny Weasley

Author: Jaylana88

Pairing: Ginny/Draco, mostly.  Will be some Ron/Lavender, and Harry/Hermione sprinkled in.

Rating: R, for language and some explicit content that would probably traumatize young ones

A/N: The usual author's noteà I do not intend to copy, infringe upon, or abuse the characters I have borrowed from J.K. Rowling, but if someone thinks I am, try not to sue.  I have no money.

The New Ginny Weasley

Chapter 7: Flirt With Me!

                Ginny bit into her apple, watching her friends devour their breakfasts with amazing speed.  'It's a wonder how they manage to stay so skinny….' She thought, idly.  'Must be those damn metabolisms…'

                "How the hell do those girls manage to eat….four trays of food in…twelve minutes flat!?" Blaise muttered, exasperated.  Pansy, astonished, could only shake her head in response.

                "Ginny," said Draco, tapping her on the arm.  Looking at him questioningly, Draco nodded above her head, and she turned around.

                "Gin, I just thought you should know," Colin paused, looking over his shoulder at the Gryffindor table he had left behind, "your brother went into conniptions when he saw you over here, and is going to come over and start up a riot once he's finished cleaning up the mess he made," he made a mildly disgusted face, before jerking his head back towards The Dream Team's usual seats in the middle of the Gryffindor table.  Ginny glanced over, and saw Ron frantically swatting at Hermione's robes, trying in vain to brush sticky pumpkin juice off of them, but having no such luck.  Ginny snorted as Hermione, exasperated, finally pushed him out of the way, muttering a cleaning spell for both her and Ron.  Ron, without saying even a word of thank you, straightened immediately and turned on his heel, striding for the Slytherin table.  Harry and Hermione watched him go curiously for a second, then realization dawned on their faces as they realized just where he was heading, and jumped up from their seats to follow him.

                "And we're off!" muttered Colin, which caused Blaise to let out an undignified snort, which caused him to look slightly embarrassed at such an unseemly verbal tendency.  Pansy, one brow raised, turned towards Blaise haughtily.

                "Slytherins, my dear boy, do NOT, under any circumstances, SNORT into their breakfasts."

                "You could snicker…" Draco volunteered helpfully, sensing Pansy's impending tirade.

                "Blaise Zabini, you are a 7th year!  You'd think that you'd have finally gotten it into that thick head of yours that Slytherins have a formidable reputation to maintain!  Your SNORT, therefore is NOT helping things." Pansy scolded, whacking Blaise on the arm soundly.

                By then, Kay, Lorey and Lex had finished their enormous breakfasts, and were watching the exchange with avid interest.

                "Violence is unhealthy, you know," commented Lex.

                "Yes, very bad for the mind," added Lorey.

                "We wouldn't want this nice, attractive boy to be all retarded once you've smacked him into oblivion now, would we?" finished Kay firmly.

                "But ladies, he _did deserve it," answered Draco, "Ginny'll tell you all about it, I'm sure, but us Slyths have an image to retain.  We're supposed to be slimy, nasty, but refined people.  Which means no snorting.  Sniggering, snickering, mocking, sneering, sarcasm, and even the occasional maniacal laughter is alright, but __never snorting.  How barbaric," he finished, nodding to confirm his statements and giving Blaise a dark look._

                "Yes, I am perfectly aware that we have a certain…quality to maintain," said Blaise sarcastically, sniffing at Draco, "but it really wasn't my fault.  It was _his_," he nodded towards Colin calmly, smirking when the younger Gryff backed away a step, waving his arms in front of him to ward off any blame.

                "Don't you blame this on me, Blaise!  If I recall correctly, you were the one to snort…." Said Colin quickly.

                "Oh, for fuck's sake!  It was just a snort, you goons!" said Lex, confused.

                "Uhm…" Kay looked around at Ginny, who just shrugged.

                "Fucken weirdos.  Ya'll seriously need to chill with the sniggering, and the….whatever," Lorey gestured, trying to think of a good word, but found none and settled for that.

                "Okay Lorey, we'll give it a rest," Draco said lightly.  "But just remember that you are _in Slytherin now, for a whole year.  And-"_

                Kay cut him off quickly, "And what?  Just cuz' we're all in Slytherfin, or whatever, doesn't mean we have to act _exactly _like you guys.  We act just the way we please.  And if you don' like it, just get outta here there.  Biatch," she added absently.

                "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it.  It's not like _we all act the same or anything-"_

                "Yes you do," Ginny said abruptly.  Draco turned to her slowly, and raised an eyebrow for her to continue.  "Well, okay, not exactly.  But you guys all do the eyebrow bit, and you all sneer, and-"

                "Yah, what Ginny said," said Lex.  "We've only been here at this table for like, two seconds, and I've already noticed alla' that," she stated, looking proud of herself at her observation.

                "Noticed all of _what?"  An angry voice cut in.  Ron, after being delayed by several pairs of legs and a discarded goblet that had somehow mysteriously ended up on the floor, ("I told Fiona and Becca to stall them," Colin leaned down to whisper wickedly into Ginny's ear) had finally made it to the Slytherin table and looked like he was about to burst._

                "What do you care, _Weasley?" said Draco nastily, sneering at Ron in the purest Slytherin fashion as Harry and Hermione caught up to him at last.  He made to get up, but Ginny stopped him by grabbing his hand with her own.  A tingle ran up his spine and he looked down at the tiny redhead at his side, surprised, but sat down again._

                Once Draco had sat down again, Ginny smiled brightly at him and patted his hand twice.  Raising an eyebrow, he gestured at her brother, indicating that she could give it a go.

                "Alright Ron.  Do you really want to know what we noticed?" Ginny said mischievously, narrowing her eyes at her brother darkly.  "We've noticed Draco here looks irresistibly attractive and sexy whenever he goes and raises his eyebrow, just so," gesturing to Draco's current expression, which consisted of a slight smirk and a delicately raised eyebrow.

                Horrified, Ron tried to interrupt his sister, sputtering, but Kay, warming to the discussion, waved him off and said, "Babe's right.  He's hot shit when he does that."  Grinning at Ginny, she winked, so her friend would know that yes, it was true, but she didn't really mean anything by it.

                Ginny shrugged nonchalantly, trying to seem as if her friend's actions didn't affect her, but inwardly she sighed a great breath of relief.  Kay was an incredibly gorgeous girl, and boys lusted after her all the time.  Kay, being herself, normally didn't notice all that much, except for when she really liked the guy.  Knowing this, Ginny had felt a little bit threatened, because if Kay had really taken to Draco, she wouldn't have had a chance.  Kay was fiercely possessive when it came to the guys she was interested in, and most times if people got in her way, they wouldn't be there for long.  Trusting her friend, however, Ginny relaxed, and then furrowed her brow when she realized that Kay had already figured out that there was something between her and Draco.  'Dammit,' Ginny thought, cursing herself for being so obvious.  Kay was unnaturally shrewd when it came to guessing such things, but Lorey and Lex were never too far behind when it came to gossipy realizations, and so Ginny knew that if Kay had figured it out already, Lorey and Lex wouldn't be lacking too long.  'That is, if they haven't noticed already,' she thought darkly.

                Draco, meanwhile, had been watching Ginny's expressive face, and had vaguely figured out what she had just been thinking about.  'So she got a bit uncomfortable?' he wondered, pleased.  'It's not like she has anything to worry about, anyway.  Americans have always been bloody insufferable.  These girls are funny, but nothing compared to my Gin. Wait.  My Gin?' Draco thought abruptly.  

                Ron, recovering from the fact that a _girl had just interrupted him, said angrily, "Gin, get back to our table.  You're a bloody Gryffindor, not some slimy Slytherin."_

                "Ooooh!" exclaimed Lex.  All eyes turned towards her, and she blushed slightly.  "I get what the house rivalry, and the reputation thing, is all about now," she said brightly.

                "Yes, Lex," Ginny said patronizingly, "_This_," she gestured, "is the 7th year house rivalry.  May I introduce my brother, Ron?"

                "Nice to meetcha.  You, kid," Kay started, "need psychological help.  All that anger can't be good for you.  You gotta chill."

                "Yaah.  I mean really babe, anger management much?" Lorey asked sarcastically, before snickering with Kay.

                "Yes," Lex finished, "too much anger is supposed to lower your sperm count, so you better watch out, cat.  And don't patronize me Gin!" Lex turned towards her friend sharply, who stuck her tongue out mutinously.  "At least what I said wasn't as terrifically dumb as your comment about those plungers and-"

                "Ok ok, sorry!" Ginny said quickly, rushing to cut Lex off.  "Yeesh…"

                "What plungers?" asked Draco.

                "You don't want to know," muttered Ginny under her breath.

                "Wait a sec," Kay said.  "I thought smoking _weed lowered your sperm count!"_

                "It does," said Blaise.  All eyes turned to him, and he put up his hands, saying, "What?  I read it in a mag somewhere."

                "Shut UP!  All of you!" roared Ron as he was fed up with the meandering conversation and the fact that no one seemed to be paying attention to him anymore, which caused eight sets of eyes to narrow dangerously at him.  "Ginny Weasley, stop acting like such a goddamn slut and get back to where you belong.  NOW!  I don't understand why…." Ron continued his tirade, ranting loudly, which caused the Great Hall to quiet down ominously.  He was so angry, however, that he didn't notice this.  Nor did he notice the fact that Draco, Blaise and Colin, had all begun to advance on him, that Kay, Lorey and Lex had all stood up and were now looking at him with pure hatred, or that Pansy had begun to crack her knuckles with a savage grin on her face.  What he did notice, along with everyone else, however, was that Ginny had finally stood up to face him, and her eyes had begun to flash silver, and the tips of her fingers were faintly glowing a deep red.

                Teeth clenched, Ginny advanced on Ron, causing him to back up, nervously clearing his throat.  Behind Ron, Harry whispered urgently to Hermione.

                "What's wrong with her eyes?" he asked, a sense of foreboding making his muscles tighten.

                The remainder of Ron's anger dissipated as he finally took in the entire situation.  Draco had stepped up next to Ginny, and Colin, Blaise and Pansy were now standing behind Kay, Lorey and Lex, who were standing protectively around Ginny, all of them looking murderously at the Hogwarts Dream Team.

                "How.  Dare.  You."  Ginny said in a low voice.  Moving by some strange, unknown force, she brought up her hand and cupped her fingers together.  Still looking at Ron with a sickened look on her face, her hand began to glow bright red, then suddenly a floating ball of fire appeared in her outstretched hand, bouncing mockingly.  Giving it a light toss, she let it rest on two of her fingers, and then, as everyone looked on shocked, she hurled it straight at Ron's chest.  Horrified, he tried to bring up his arms to block the flame from hitting him, but the ball of fire went right through his arms, and amazingly, sunk right into his chest.  'It was cold,' he thought wonderingly.  'Fire isn't supposed to be cold…'  

                A collective gasp went through the Great Hall, and many of the teachers looked on with bewilderment, and even a bit of fear.  Snape and Dumbledore were the only ones with differing expressions, the snarky Professor with a darkly amused expression and Dumbledore with a solemn, grave look on his face.

                "Oh Merlin!  Ron, are you okay!?!" Hermione was the first to snap out of her shock, rushing in front of Ron to inspect his chest.

                "Whoa…." Harry muttered, bringing his hand up to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.  This movement caused Ginny to jerk out of the trance she seemed to have been in, and she staggered sideways a step, which caused Draco to reach out to support her.  Leaning against him, Ginny placed her hand on his chest to steady herself, and blinked rapidly, trying to collect her thoughts.

                'I just…threw a ball of fire…at my brother,' she thought.  'I think this is the part where I'm supposed to be surprised…but I'm just not.'

                Ron, just then, opened his mouth to answer Hermione, who was poking his chest and muttering to herself.  But as soon as he did, a stream of flaming red fire emerged from his mouth, and no sound came out.  Hermione, shrieking, brought her hands above her head in a last effort to save herself from harm, but it wasn't necessary. As the "flames" hit her, all she felt was a cool breeze on her, tickling the top of her head and arms.  Horrified, Ron tried again, with the same results.  Giggling helplessly because Ron's "fire breath" was beginning to tickle, Hermione shrieked "Stop! Stop it Ron!"

                Angrily, Ron shut his mouth, and turned to Harry to try to speak to him, but the cool flames only engulfed Harry, who gave a shout when he was bombarded with cool wind as well.

                "Well at least now he won't hurt anyone," said Draco observantly, still holding Ginny tightly to his side.

                "Wow he looks like a complete, friggin idiot!"  Lex yelped loudly, then blushed as she realized that her voice had echoed throughout the Great Hall.  Her exclamation, though, succeeded in rousing the entire student body, along with the teachers, from the horrified stupor they had sunken into when Ginny had thrown her ball of fire at her irate brother.  Giggles, startled gasps and wild exclamations ("Oh SHIT!  Where'd Ginny learn to do that!?"  and "That was WICKED!!", along with "Serves that stupid boy right for messing around with Ginny- everyone KNOWS how angry she can get…") raised the room's noise level abruptly.

                "Man, that kid is freakin' out!" Kay exclaimed, looking at Ron and laughing.

                "Fucken idiot…" said Lorey.

                "Yeah, thinkin' that he could actually mess with Gin and get away with it…" said Lex with a smile.

                "Though we've no idea how you managed to throw a ball of _fire _at him, it was still wicked!" exclaimed Lorey, turning to look at Ginny, who was still clinging to Draco dazedly.

                Snapping quickly out of it, she jerked in surprise and released her hold on Draco, who stepped back and smirked at her, amused.

                "That was bloody amazing, Weasley!" Pansy said, laughing, as Ron, who was still breathing cold fire, stomped angrily back to the Gryffindor table with Harry and Hermione, who, though feeling bad for their friend, couldn't help but chuckle together at the curious predicament Ron was in.

                Sighing, Ginny made her way back to the Slytherin table and sat down heavily, massaging her temples.  Calls of "Way to go, Weasley!" and "Nice job, girl!" echoed down the table from the far end where most of the other older Slytherins were sitting.  Draco came and sat down next to her, and she shifted uncomfortably as he grinned evilly.  As Kay, Lorey, Lex, Pansy, Colin and Blaise all sat back down again, and the Great Hall buzzed with gossip about the latest turn of events, Draco leaned towards Ginny and put his mouth close to her ear.  Settling his hand on her inner thigh, he squeezed it once and whispered, "Nice, Gin.  I'm impressed, really."

                His breath tickling her ear combined with the heady feeling of him grasping her thigh made her shiver.  She gasped quietly and her head spun as the bench she was sitting on rocked as Colin and Blaise started pushing at each other to determine who was stronger ("I should be the one to beat up Weasley, not you, weak thing!"  "Weak thing!?  I'll show you!!!"), which caused Draco's slightly parted lips to barely graze the tip of her ear.  Her reaction caused Draco to smile, and he leaned back, putting one hand behind his head and plastering an innocent "Who, me?" expression onto his face quickly.

                Ginny, blinking, recovered from her momentary hormonal black out, and turned to Draco with an odd look on her face.  'I'm going to get him so good for that little stunt he just pulled…' she thought evilly.

                'Uh oh,' Draco thought, wary of the plotting expression on her face.  Lowering her eyes, she let her heated gaze travel down towards his groin, and he shifted a little uncomfortably.

                Grabbing and playing with his belt buckle discreetly, she lowered her voice and said, quietly, "You think you're hot stuff, Draco?  This is what you get for trying to flirt with me…" and with that, she ran her thumb sideways down the zipper of his pants teasingly.  Draco, for all appearances, looked completely normal, save for the white-knuckled grip he had on his goblet of pumpkin juice and an unfocused look in his eyes.  Ginny did it once more, running her thumb all the way up again and then stopped to fiddle with his belt a bit, and then stopped abruptly.  Twitching once, Draco's eyes jolted back into focus and flicked up to meet Ginny's laughing gaze.  Withdrawing her hand from his lap under the table completely, she turned and, ignoring his bewildered gaze, laughed at Pansy and Lex's discussion of Ron.

                "Ron is ridiculous, though!  I mean really, freakin' out like that in front of everyone?"

                "Yes I know, absolutely pathetic," said Pansy, laughing.  "Ron fancied himself a domineering brother," she mocked, posturing, "but Gin kicked his ass!"

                "I don't know how I did that, though," Ginny protested, jumping into the conversation.  "I just got so mad I could hardly see straight….it was kind of like when my magic first came out when I was younger.  I just got a new wand, too…so that might have something to do with it," she added thoughtfully.

                "That could be it…I've heard of something like that before, when I asked McGonagall about magical abilities in Transfiguration once," Pansy responded promptly. 

                "Well I don't know, I suppose it could be _anything," Kay said dramatically, listening in on the conversation.  Everyone nodded, and she continued, "but I don't really care!  Cuz it was COOL!"_

                Draco shook his head scornfully.  'Americans are so _bloody weird!'  he thought.  'What did I do to get stuck with them for an entire year!?'_

                Ginny looked up suddenly as she felt someone's eyes on her, and met Dumbledore's grave gaze with a solemn expression of her own.  Looking at her, he lowered his eyes and gazed at her over the rims of his half-moon glasses, and she nodded.  He wanted to see her.  'So I'll go and see him,' Ginny thought, covering her nervousness with a half-smile of understanding in the Headmaster's direction, pondering on what he could possibly want to talk to her for.  'Other than scolding me for potential bodily harm to a student,' she thought miserably.

                A cool hand squeezed hers under the table suddenly, and she looked at Draco, startled.  Smirking, he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.  He had noticed the silent exchange between Ginny and Dumbledore, and had grabbed her hand on impulse.  Giving her hand another brief squeeze, he let go, and Ginny smiled at him gratefully.  Turning back to the conversations of her friends, she thought idly, in the back of her mind, that flirting with Draco Malfoy definitely had its advantages.

A-N: Still sick.  But that's okay!!  Here's some comments to my reviewers:

**Lia**:  You're COOL!  I am so glad you like my story, and I want to congratulate you on being the first person to give me the thumbs up on making Blaise male, AND in a potential relationship with Colin.  As for Ron being a complete ass, he got the shit kicked out of him this chapter, at least metaphorically, with Ginny hurling a great big ball of flame into his sternum, so it's all good now.  Thanks for the review, and keep reading, love!

Also:

                I know everyone was expecting Draco to beat Ron to a bloody pulp, but I wanted Ginny to show the beginnings of her true strength, magical and otherwise.  You'll find out more of that in a later chapter, when things get a little darker and Ginny's "destiny", to put it dramatically, is revealed.  Hope everyone liked this chapter- any complaints?  Post a review!  Look for Chapter 8 tomorrow.

-Jaylana


	9. Play With Fire

Title: The New Ginny Weasley

Author: Jaylana88

Pairing: Ginny/Draco, mostly.  Will be some Ron/Lavender, and Harry/Hermione sprinkled in.

Rating: R, for language and some explicit content that would probably traumatize young ones

A/N: The usual author's noteà I do not intend to copy, infringe upon, or abuse the characters I have borrowed from J.K. Rowling, but if someone thinks I am, try not to sue.  I have no money.

The New Ginny Weasley

Chapter 8 (c.9 on the drop bar on ff.net): Play With Fire

                One by one, students filtered out of the Great Hall, new schedules in one hand, book bags in the other.

                "What've ya'll got first?" drawled Lorey, looking at her schedule with a perplexed expresssion.

                "Uhm…Defense Against the Dark Arts.  With…Gryffindors, I think,"  Lex dug around in the bag slung over her shoulder as the four girls, Colin, and the Slytherins, paused to the side of the doorway leading to the Great Hall.

                "You've got class with me then!" exclaimed Ginny.

                "Yes!  If we have all our classes with Gin, we won't have to worry about anything!" said Kay excitedly.

                "Why won't we have to worry about anything?" asked Lex, curiously.

                "Cuz' Ginny's disgustingly smart," Kay stated matter-of-factly.  "That means if we get stupid in class, Gin will be able to help us out, yah?"

                "Oh yeaaaah…." Lorey said, eyes lighting up.

                "Hey, you guys!  You're supposed to actually _learn _stuff while you're here!" Ginny said, throwing her hands up in exasperation.  "Besides," she added after a moment, "I'm not going to have all my classes with you….I'm getting transferred to Advanced Trans and Potions…." She mumbled, trailing off slightly embarrassed.

                Draco, Blaise and Pansy stopped suddenly, and Colin, who noticed this, stopped as well and looked at them as if to say "What?", while the other girls, who already knew about Ginny's other classes, kept walking.

                "Oh that's right, nice on that Gin!" said Kay, congratulating her friend again with an arm slung over her shoulders.

                "Dammit!  That means I won't be able to bug you in class all the time!" Lex pouted.

                Ginny grinned at this, then stopped when she realized that they had left a group of startled Slytherins behind.

                Bewildered, all three Slytherins had raised their eyebrows abnormally high, the only sign of their surprise.  Rolling his eyes at them, Colin turned to Ginny and said, "They didn't know you were taking classes with them."

                "You're going to be in our classes this year??"  asked Blaise curiously.

                "Well, yes…but just two of them.  So you won't have to deal with me all the time," Ginny said sheepishly, looking down at her feet nervously.  'I didn't count on the fact that they might not _want_ me in their classes….' She thought sadly.

                "Do you know how COOL this is!?!"  Pansy suddenly shrieked, arms waving wildly.  "All I ever do in class is piss Draco and Blaise off cuz there's no one else to talk to!  Now I get a GIRL!"  Pansy, eyes bulging, swept down on a stunned Ginny and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, before whirling at Draco and saying, "Do you have any idea how much more interesting this will make McGonagall's and Snape's!?!"

                "I gather it'll be _much more interesting," Draco said, his eyes glittering promisingly, and slightly maliciously, as Pansy snapped him out of the wild thoughts running through his head.  'Ginny, in my class, sitting near me…a WHOLE CLASS!?!  How am I going to get through that!?!'_

                Ginny felt a shiver go up her spine at Draco's suggestive tone.  'Oh wonderful….now you're freaking out just because Draco is going to be in two of your classes.  TWO of them.  Get a grip, Ginny!' she thought wildly.  A high, maniacal giggle interrupted her train of thought, and she glanced at her three American friends suspiciously, who were staring at her, and then at Draco, with looks of comprehension and amusement.  'And,' Ginny thought darkly, 'they look insane.  Which means only one thing….' Ginny's brow furrowed, as she finished, 'they're plotting something, and it's not going to be good.'

                "Well we'd better get going," Colin said, the hallways beginning to clear as students ambled off to their classes.  Kay, Lorey, Lex, Draco, Ginny and Pansy all started off for their first classes, with Colin and Blaise following behind them.  

                "Are _you _taking any advanced classes like Ginny?" Blaise asked Colin, keeping pace with the younger boy as they all walked quickly.

                "Nope," said Colin, avoiding Blaise's eyes.  A slight flush tainted his cheeks, and Blaise smirked.

                "That's too bad," the Slytherin said mischievously, "It would have been nice to have something fit to look at while McGonagall drones on…and on…."  Blaise sidled up to Colin's side when the Gryffindor stopped abruptly, and he grinned.  Suddenly, though, Blaise's trademark Slytherin smirk disappeared, replaced by a slightly apprehensive frown as Colin whirled on him suddenly and backed him into the wall.  Blaise glanced over to the rest of their group with his back resting against the wood, but Lex was talking animatedly about something and had captured everyone's attention, ensuring that no one had noticed that the two boys had trailed behind.

                "You know, constantly flirting with me is going to get you in trouble," said Colin softly, staring into Blaise's blue eyes through his lashes.  "I mean, what if I'm not into that type of thing?  You don't know if I'm…." Colin trailed off, and Blaise's eyes widened.

                "You mean you aren't…." the taller, older boy started to stammer, but was cut off when Colin leaned in and put his hands up to brace himself on either side of Blaise's hand, nuzzling his nose against the skin of his neck, closing his eyes and breathing in the clean, fresh scent that wafted towards him.  Colin stepped in a bit more, and said lowly into Blaise's ear, "Aren't what?  Attracted to boys?"  Colin moved his mouth back down and brushed against Blaise's neck, causing him to stiffen and hold his breath tightly. Flicking out his tongue once, and then moving his mouth back up to Blaise's ear, he whispered, "I think I'm attracted to this boy, right here…"  Not one to be outdone, however, Blaise brought his hand up to place it on the small of Colin's back, and took a step sideways and flipped their positions, with Colin now pressed against the wall.  Startled, Colin's eyes flew open and he gasped.  He gazed into Blaise's eyes, who gazed back with a twinkle of something akin to mischief.  Leaning down, Blaise brushed his lips against slightly parted lips, and then pressed Colin to the wall harder with the entire length of him for a moment, and then stepped back.  "And I'm attracted to this boy right here….on the wall, looking good enough to eat…"  Blaise's gaze traveled downwards suggestively, and Colin flushed slightly.

                "But we've got class.  See you, Gryff," said Blaise flippantly, and then turned on his heel to get to class, leaving Colin with his hands pressed against the wall, slightly pink, and very turned on.

-----------

                "Hey you guys, I need to walk this way, so I'll see you after first class, alright?" Ginny asked her three slightly nervous friends.

                "Where do you hafta go?  You're not gunna go off and do Draco somewhere in a classroom are you?  Cuz that would be naughty naughty…" Kay said in a rush, almost too fast to be intelligible, her nervousness making her ramble incessantly.

                "Kay…" Ginny sighed.  "I have to go see Professor Dumbledore about something.  Draco needs to walk this way, because his class is down the hall from Dumbledore's office," Ginny explained, hanging an arm around her friend's shoulders.  Kay may be insane sometimes, and tended to act like nothing could get her down, but when it came to meeting groups of new people head on, she got nervous without anyone to help her out.

                "Don't worry about it girl, we're all going in at the same time.  At worst, they'll throw shit at us…" Lorey smiled helpfully, though she was looking a little hesitant as well.

                "Go on, you guys'll be fine.  AND you'll be together.  Tell the new professor that I'll be late because Dumbledore requested to see me about my schedule," Ginny gestured to the door, and Kay, after looking at Lorey, and then Lex, pushed open the door determinedly and walked in.  The other two followed her, after glancing at Ginny for a last reassuring smile.  

                Letting out a sigh of relief, Ginny turned and walked quickly down the hall towards the great statue of a phoenix.  Draco, catching up to her quickly, said, "You know, we could always try that "doing me in a classroom" bit sometime…." He trailed off, looking at her for a reaction.

                Ginny smirked, glancing up at him out of the corner of her eye, and said, "Definitely not," paused, and then added, "But I'd do you in a bedroom.  With a nice, springy bed…."

                Draco's eyes widened and he stopped abruptly, and Ginny halted as well, looking at him with one eyebrow raised.  She grinned, and bit her lip, approaching him with a slink in her step.

                'Oh, Merlin…" Draco thought, blanking out as he looked down and his eyes zoned in on Ginny's full lips, and almost groaned when her tongue darted out to wet them.

                "Since my bed in Gryffindor isn't anywhere near as nice as a 7th year's, though, I suppose you'll have to get me into the Slytherin Dormitory…."  After saying this, Ginny turned around and walked towards the phoenix statue hiding the entrance to Dumbledore's offices.  Opting for one last glance at him, she called out.

                "But until you get me in _there, I suppose you'll just have to make do somehow…"  With a little wave goodbye, she turned once more and said, "Lemon drop" in a soft voice, and stepped onto the rotating stairs without a glance back._

                For the third time since encountering Ginny yesterday, Draco was speechless.

                And for the second time since encountering the attractive girl, Draco's only thought was….

                'Whoa.'

-----------

                "Serves him right for trying to play with me," thought Blaise with a smirk so broad it was almost a grin.  And a happy grin, at that.  'I almost kissed him…I _could _have kissed him…' he thought giddily, striding down the hall quickly towards his first class, History of Magic.  Rounding the corner, he picked up his pace to jog when he saw Draco standing in front of that huge statue of a phoenix.

                "Drake, hey Drake!" Draco jerked out of his thoughts as Blaise came up to him.  "We're late for class you know."

                "Yeah…"  Draco muttered, his mind still preoccupied with thoughts of springy beds and sexy redheads.

                "Draco…."

                "Yeah…"

                "DRACO!!!"

                Finally, Draco turned to Blaise and said, calmly, as if Blaise hadn't been repeating his name and waving his arms about like an idiot, "Yes, you great prat?"

                "You're standing in front of the damn door." Blaise stated, gesturing to the door on Draco's left that, he really _had been standing in front of for Merlin how long._

                "I knew that," Draco said abruptly.  "I was just collecting my thoughts…remembering the summer reading, and all that," Draco muttered, while turning the knob and walking into the classroom as discreetly as possible.

                "Yeah sure…" Blaise muttered back, before they took their seats at the back of the class.  The professor, without glancing up from what he was writing on the board, said, "Ah, Misters Malfoy and Zabini, I presume?  Thank you for taking the time to join us.  Take out your books, we're starting on page 37, where you should have left off after your summer reading that was assigned to you…."

-------------

                Waiting to reach the top, Ginny attempted to get all thoughts of beds and criminally hot Draco Malfoy out of her mind and tried to focus on what Dumbledore would want to ask.  Collecting her thoughts as the moving stairwell came to a slow, grinding halt, she took a deep breath before walking up to the door, knocking twice and pulling it open slowly.

                As she stepped in, a long, thin, inhuman-sounding note sounded, and Ginny suddenly found herself surrounded by huge, red feathers swirling about her.  'It's a phoenix,' Ginny thought dazedly, as she caught a glimpse of bright black eyes and enormous, swishing tail feathers.  Fawkes flew around her once more in a whirl, then fluttered above her head a moment, and then perching on the top shelf of a bookcase.

                "Well, Fawkes seems to remember you well enough," said a gentle voice quietly.  Eyes wide, Ginny's memory flashed, images of Harry and the Chamber of Secrets and _Tom_, and then of safety and red feathers.

                "Fawkes…" Ginny whispered, looking up at the bird who had swept her from the chamber all those years ago. The phoenix gave a small cooing noise in the back of its throat, and Ginny smiled.  Feeling more confident suddenly, Ginny turned to face Dumbledore, who was sitting calmly in front of her behind his large desk, hands clasped on an intricately designed open book.

                "Hello Ginny," said Dumbledore with a smile, looking over the rims of his half-moon spectacles at her, "care for a lemon drop?"

                "No thank you, Headmaster, sir," said Ginny politely.

                "I asked you to come up here after breakfast for a reason, my dear," Dumbledore started, "do you know what that is?"

                "Because of that stunt I pulled in the Great Hall today, with Ron," Ginny said bluntly.

                Looking at Dumbledore square in the eye, she walked over to him and sat down after he gestured for her to do so, saying, "I've no idea how I did it, Professor, honest.  I just got so angry, I couldn't think, and then all of a sudden this great big _ball _popped out of my fingers, and then I threw it at him without even knowing I threw it at him, really, and…"

                "My dear, it was, quite obvious, I must say, that you were not quite yourself.  That is not why you are here, however."

                "It's not, sir?" said Ginny, some of her confidence fading away and being replaced by a slight tremor in her stomach, the beginnings of fear.

                "No, Ginny, it's not.  I know that you do not know how you did it, or even entirely why.  The only thing I want to know is if you, when you began to first show signs of magical ability, if you ever did anything with fire, similar to the ball you produced in the Great Hall at breakfast, this morning."

                "What?" said Ginny, stumped.

                Eyes crinkling a bit before Dumbledore's face turned calm once again, the Headmaster said, another time, "When you first started to reveal yourself to your family as a magically gifted girl, what kind of things happened?"

                "Well…." Ginny started, uncertain as to where this would go, "I did manage to make a pile of laundry burst into flame once, but that was harmless because it was outside.  Oh, and then there was that one time when Mum couldn't get the fire going because she was busy in the kitchen, and all the boys were complaining that it was cold, so I made a fire…but that's all just normal stuff, right?  Everyone does those things when they're first growing into their magic…." Ginny trailed off after finishing, looking at Dumbledore curiously.

                "Yes, Ginny, it is true that most wizards and witches go through periods where their magic is just beginning to develop, and is highly unmanageable.  But it is incredibly rare for those young wizards and witches to _produce fire the first time around.  Typically, only with practice and a wand, are people able to produce fire.  It is so with the other natural elements as well.  Fire, water, earth and air, or wind, are all enormously difficult for anyone to produce without a wand.  Which is why I asked you if you had made fire before," finished Dumbledore, looking at Ginny._

                "Oh," was all that came out of Ginny's mouth.  Thinking, she tried to process that bit of information.  'So I did something that most people don't do….that's not so bad.  At least, she didn't think so….' "Professor, what does that mean?  Am I getting…expelled??" Ginny asked, slightly afraid of the answer.

                Instead, Dumbledore let out a soft chuckle.

                "Of course not, my dear.  But, instead of expulsion, I would like you to listen to a theory of mine on your ability to produce fire."  Nodding, Ginny leaned back in her chair to listen.

                "Well, as I have just told you, witches, and yes, they are always witches, that produce fire without the necessity of a wand are incredibly rare.  So rare, in fact, that there have only been two other recorded in history.  I also told you that the other three elements of water, earth and air are all difficult to produce as well.  I have reason to believe, Ginny that you are an Elemental."

                Ginny, completely nonplussed, sat staring at Dumbledore numbly until he continued.

                "Elementals are witches who have control over an element.  In your case, I believe it is fire, what with your little display in the Great Hall this morning," Dumbledore said this as gently as possible, but Ginny could do nothing to respond.

                "The development of an Elemental witch is typical of yours, Ginny.  Magical abilities appear at the normal age, as everyone else's does.  But those abilities are characterized with an odd ability to produce the element that has chosen them.  It is said that sometime around the teenage years, their actual powers begin to manifest themselves as outlets for extreme emotion: happiness, sadness, anger…." Dumbledore trailed off, letting the information sink in.

                "All four types of Elemental witches are born at the same time," he continued.  "Births of Elementals are supposed to occur every 400 years, but the last recorded set was in the Middle Ages.  A very long time ago, as you can imagine.  Around that same time, when the Elemental witch controlling fire died, she left us with something of a prophecy.  It's written here, in this book," Dumbledore pushed the book he had open on his desk towards Ginny.  After a moment of staring, she shook her head and pulled the book off the desk and onto her lap.

                _"When the natural order of things is threatened, the greatest of all Elementals will emerge when night finally falls, and the fruition of all Elemental power will come to pass, in order to secure the balance of the world for the rest of time.  **She will possess the combined might of all four elements, and will be capable of controlling the element of the Spirit.  And she will be the last."**_

The passage she had just read shocked Ginny out of her daze.  'So I guess I'm not really that special.  Just because I'm supposed to be able to control fire doesn't mean all _that _much.  At least I'm not that chick that can mess with EVERYTHING' she thought weakly.  'Controlling fire is enough for me, thanks.  Water? Air?  Forget it!'

                "I'm sorry Ginny, but I thought it best if you knew everything right away," said Dumbledore, looking at her apologetically.  "I didn't mean for it to give you a shock.  In the long run, it really doesn't change all that much about you.  Now that your abilities have manifested themselves, you should have an easy time of controlling them.  They won't explode out of you, like this morning."

                Ginny nodded, as things finally began to sink in, and she began to sort through everything once more, just as she had done before she had walked into Professor Dumbledore's office.

                "Well, I suppose it's a better explanation than I was expecting.  I thought I was a freak…" Ginny muttered, standing up finally.

                "But you're not, Ginny.  You are merely gifted," said Dumbledore, smiling now.

                "I suppose I should be getting to my classes now…."  She trailed off, and looked around the room once more, eyes landing on Fawkes the phoenix.  Walking to the door, she pushed it open, and said, politely, if a little vaguely, "Thank you, Headmaster," and, with a final goodbye wave to Fawkes, Ginny disappeared out of Dumbledore's Office.

                "Well that was interesting…" Ginny said dazedly, stumbling off the rotating stairwell blindly.  "Now what am I going to do?" she said quietly, the unanswerable question hanging in the silent hallway.  

_AN: _Perhaps this story should have gone into the Romance/Drama section.  It would have done better there, I think.  Sorry there was so much information in this one chapter.  Revelations, however, are necessary, in order for the plot to run along smoothly.  It'll all play out in the end.  Anyone that has doubts, stop reading now.  For everyone else who wants to stay on board, and is interested in this story and where it's going to go, stay with it, because it'll turn out well.  Promise.  (Haven't I said that before, in a similar author's note?)  Review this chapter, please!  My one shout out for tonight is here:

**Trephinia**** Caelyn:  Thank you for your deliriously long review.  First off, do you think I'm done with this story or something?  Obviously, I can't very well resolve the story and explain everything straight up in, what, eight fucken chapters?  Secondly, since when are Slytherins supposed to be evil to the extent that they go around killing people!?  Slytherins are characterized, as stated by the Sorting Hat, as people who are cunning, and achieve their goals through whatever means necessary.  Perhaps you should take into account the fact that J.K. Rowling has done well to exclude any overt supporting evidence of the "All Slytherins are evil!  Let's hope they keel over before they cause any more damage!" brainwashing theory in her books thus far.  And I AM AN AMERICAN, for fuck's sake; I can characterize "my fellow citizens" however I please.  Kay, Lorey and Lex are not ditzy, superficial, or any other stereotypical bullshit that was probably running through your mind while you reviewed my story.  As for the slut part?  Did you manage to read the rest of the LINE before going off to explore the positive qualities of unbased flaming?  Ginny got mad because Ron was being an idiot, trying to force her to do something she didn't want to do, which was "going back to where she belongs."  If she reacted badly to being called a slut, then she'd be OOC.  But she didn't.  She reacted to what I wanted her to, which is what I thought the Ginny that grew up would react to as well.  ****I prefer and admire the capacity for change within each individual, ESPECIALLY someone like Ginny.  The physical and mental changes she went through are entirely plausible; even if she hadn't gone to camp, she could very well have changed randomly over the summer all on her own, just because she thought she needed a makeover.  But I DIDN'T DO THAT, because that's just not RIGHT.  Obviously, I should have stuck with the shittier, pointless, generic version of this story, because then that would have justified and proven the comments you included in your review.  But I didn't, so now you're stuck with a review that you submitted that really pissed me off because 1. Why would you read this if you didn't even think the plot was all that good?, 2. You missed the entire point of my story, and 3. I don't know WHERE you get off!!!  **

On a happier note, thank you for at least taking the time to read my "OOC" story, though I've no idea why you bothered.  And, to add to my tirade, I don't use spell check.  Computerized spell checking is for idiots, because it messes with the context.  Thanks for the compliment on my "description, diction and organization," as well.

Something to think about: It says on the bottom of the review box that constructive criticism is helpful.  Maybe you should take that to heart.

**To all others who have helped me immensely with their comments, I thank you.  Check back for a chapter update soon.**

-Jaylana 


	10. First Day Back and The Games Begin!

Title: The New Ginny Weasley

Author: Jaylana88

Pairing: Ginny/Draco, mostly.  Will be some Ron/Lavender, and Harry/Hermione sprinkled in.

Rating: R, for language and some explicit content that would probably traumatize young ones

A/N: The usual author's noteà I do not intend to copy, infringe upon, or abuse the characters I have borrowed from J.K. Rowling, but if someone thinks I am, try not to sue.  I have no money.

The New Ginny Weasley

Chapter 9:  First Day Back and The Games Begin!

                Pansy turned around and flashed a nasty grin as Draco and Blaise slunk as quietly as they could to their seats.  She had walked with them and the Americans, along with Colin and Ginny, until she had realized that they were all going to be disastrously late and had made a break for it; she didn't want to make a fool out of herself by sneaking in late to class, like those two were doing now.  Facing the teacher once again, she schooled her face into an innocent, interested expression as the teacher said testily, "Ah, Misters Malfoy and Zabini, I presume?  Thank you for taking the time to join us.  Take out your books, we're starting on page 37, where you should have left off after your summer reading that was assigned to you at the end of the semester."

                'What a load of idiots,' thought Pansy, smirking inwardly.  'They get all caught up in their little romances, and they've already screwed up.  It's the first day back!  It's not even_ lunch yet!'  with a huff, she turned to her open History of Magic textbook, zoning out on the print._

                'Those boys…' she thought idly, sighing to herself dramatically, which caused the entire class to turn and stare at her incredulously.  Oblivious to it all, she plucked at the feathers of her quill, thinking to herself, 'This is going to be _such _a long year….'

------------

                "Hello, Miss Weasley.  Take a seat please, we were just beginning our lecture for today," a stern, young-looking lady said firmly as Ginny walked dazedly into the classroom.

                "Excuse me, ma'am, but who are you?  I must've missed that bit too…" Ginny trailed off as the new professor looked at her sharply before smiling slightly.

                "I am Professor Ferry.  I will be teaching you 6th year level Defense Against the Dark Arts. Now, your seat, if you please?"  Ginny nodded, head down, and made her way to the only open seat, next to Kay, who was sitting next to Lorey and Lex in the front row.  The three girls looked unaccountably nervous, though Kay seemed to be handling it better by staring out the window and grasping her quill with a white-knuckled grip.  Lex and Lorey both looked slightly pale.  Smiling encouragingly at them before turning to face the board, Ginny took out a bottle of ink and a quill and proceeded to jot down everything Professor Ferry said concerning curses in the next 45 minutes.

                The class continued just so until the bell rang and students began putting their notes away, standing up and stretching.

                "Homework tonight is to write a brief, 5-paragraph essay on the effects of curses on animals vs. humans.  Tomorrow, you will only need your wands.  Class dismissed."

                "Shit, that was so boring I thought my brain was going to melt!" exclaimed Kay.  Lex and Lorey both nodded rapidly, as the three newly-sorted Slytherins walked down the hall with Ginny quickly.

                "It wasn't at all as bad as I thought it would be," said Lorey in a flippant manner even though she had been panicking a mere 45 minutes earlier, at the start of class.  "What've we got next?"

                Digging around in her book bag, Lex pulled forth a crumpled schedule and scanned it quickly, before announcing, "Double Herbology with…Hufflepuffs.  Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?  And what the hell is Herbology, anyway?"  she asked, a confused look clouding her face as she looked up at Ginny.

                "It's for plants, and things," Ginny said.  "You'll like it, trust me.  The Professor's nice.  She's the Hufflepuff Head of House," she explained while pulling out her own schedule.

                "What've you got, Gin?"

                "…."  Ginny's mouthed dropped open as her eyes stopped on her next class.

                Snatching it away from her, Kay scanned Ginny's schedule as well.  A slow grin spread across Kay's face as Ginny's eyes widened even further.  

                "Oh…noooooo….." Ginny groaned out.

                With a solid whack to Ginny's arm, Kay exclaimed, "Oh, don't give me that!  You know perfectly well that a double block is going to be LOADS of fun with all-those-boys..._especially _the one you're diggin'…." She trailed off suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows, fingers and nose all at the same time, making her look particularly odd.

                "Stop it, you're freaking her out!" Lex said, swatting at Kay's hands in a futile attempt to ward off Kay's gesturing.

                "Man, you are so weird, Kay!"  Lorey said playfully, before poking at Ginny's cheek repeatedly.

                "Stop that, you crazy girl!" Ginny batted at Lorey's finger, before giggling.  

                "Hmph, and you tell me that _I'm _weird?  Who's doing the weird shit now, biatch?"  Kay said, sticking her tongue out and scrunching up her nose at Lorey.

                "Oh quiet, you goon.  It's no wonder you're from California- you're all a bunch of lunatics!" Lorey rolled her eyes good naturedly at her friend.

                "Hey man, Cali's where it's at!"  Kay defended.

                "Where _what _is at, exactly?" Lex said, raising her eyebrows and pursing her lips mockingly at Kay.

                "Well," Kay paused, then her eyes lit up and she said, "me, for one thing," nodding once in an affirmative way, she pointed to herself, grinning triumphantly as if she had scored some kind of point.  Lex, Lorey and Ginny all stared at her with blank expressions as they all tried to contain the mirth that was threatening to overcome them.

                "And then there's the boys," Kay added, in what was supposed to be a thoughtful tone, but turned out to be a stuttered comment as she started giggling in the middle of it, which caused the other girls to laugh as well.

                "God you're a riot, Kay," said Lorey, wiping her eye as tears of laughter leaked from one of them.

                "But I'm Californian, baby, through and through," Kay beamed, then rolled her eyes at the lot of them.  "There's even a song about us kids…." She trailed off, thinking about the lyrics for a moment before lighting up with remembrance as she walked with the others down the steps leading to a large row of greenhouses.  

                "Ooooh, I got 'em!" Kay squealed, then cleared her throat and raised her left hand in a fist to her mouth like an imaginary microphone, "It goes…_Wiiiiiiith__ the red top down, starlit sky, pretty little blue green in her eye she's my…__California__ giiiiirl!"  Kay belted out in a high voice, though it surprisingly sounded on-key.  Students rushing out towards Greenhouse 6 looked at her oddly as Kay threw her head back and sang, and one even ran into a door when they stopped to get a glimpse at the odd American._

                "Kay, _must _you sing!?" Lex exclaimed when Kay had finished her impromptu performance.

                Clapping sarcastically, Ginny grimaced, then grinned when she saw Kay pouting.

                "You were smashing, babe," Ginny said with a smile, and Kay brightened immediately.

                "This is it, then?" said Lorey, halting in front of a large glass door with the words "Greenhouse 6" painted on them in dark green lettering.

                "Yup, you guys'll be here for two classes.  It'll go by fast, don't worry about it," Ginny said reassuringly.

                "Alright well, here we go!"  Linking her arms together with Lex's and Lorey's, Kay somehow managed to push open the door, hold it open, and lug the two other hesitant girls in at the same time.

                "Bye Gin!" was the final utterance from the startled, but slightly resigned voice of Lorey as the glass door slammed shut.

                Ginny smiled, happy that Kay had gone back to being her normal, bubbly self.  It was slightly disconcerting, the way Kay had been nervous earlier.  'That just never happens,' Ginny thought, wondering to herself.  'It's good that she snapped out of it by the time she got into class…class?  CLASS!!  Potions is on the other side of the CASTLE!!' Ginny thought, panicked.

                "Shit!  I'm going to be late!!!!" Ginny shrieked, then bolted towards the castle, running toward the dungeons.

----------

                'Where is that Weasley?  I _thought _she said she was going to have Potions with us from now on….' Pansy frowned as she glanced at the door leading to the Snape's Potions classroom for the umpteenth time since class had started.

                "Ginny's going to get it once she sets foot in Snape's room….he's going to pound her into the ground for being late!" Blaise whispered lowly to Draco.  Blaise's observation seemed correct because even though Snape was a particularly irritable individual on a regular basis, his expression seemed abnormally unpleasant today.

                A curt nod, however, was the only response Blaise got, as Draco attempted to keep his attention on the board where Snape was busily writing down the ingredients of their first in-class potion, to be brewed next period.  'Where is she?' Draco thought, his gaze discreetly straying towards the door, just like Pansy's had moments before.  Slytherins had an uncanny ability to add an element of stealth to any of their movements.  Sneaking covert glances at the door seemed to be one of those movements.

                Suddenly, Ginny Weasley did just that, opening the door with a bang, her cheeks red from running as she desperately tried to refill her lungs with the required amount of air.  'Breathe, breathe', Ginny thought, sucking in air rapidly.  She was so preoccupied with the typically involuntary action of respiration, however, that Ginny didn't notice the fact that her Potions Professor, wearing a particularly nasty facial expression, was advancing on her from behind.  She did notice, however, the curt tap on her shoulder as she gasped for air.  She also noticed the fact that the room had gone deathly silent, and that all eyes had gone towards, not her, but somewhere behind her and above her.  Which meant….Ginny swallowed as her throat suddenly grew dry, and she clutched her book bag as she turned around slowly, facing Professor Snape.

                "Hello, Miss _Weasley_," said Professor Snape in a low, biting snarl, one eyebrow cocked at her, as if daring for her to speak.

                "Uhm…hello Professor Snape," she said slowly, calming her voice down to its typical manner.  'It won't do anyone any good to see you scared of him.  He's just a damn professor, for Merlin's sake!' she thought, somewhat wildly.

                At the clear, articulate response to his discouraging greeting, Snape's eyebrow shot up even further.  'Well that's odd,' the Professor thought.  'Every time I've ever done that, they broke down in tears and had to be escorted to the infirmary….' Snape looked back down, and narrowed his eyes at the youngest Weasley girl he had reluctantly consented to be promoted to his 7th year Advanced class.

                "Well well, an articulate, coherent response from a Weasley.  _What_ a surprise," Snape said mockingly, sneering at her slightly.

                "Yes well, that's why I was put into your class, right Professor?  Since I can spout relatively articulate, coherent responses to 7th year potions questions?" Ginny said, innocently enough, though there was the slightest twitch at the corner of her mouth as she spoke.

                Shocked, Snape could only mutter in what hopefully sounded like a cold, curt tone, "Supposedly, Weasley.  Take a seat, next to Pansy, there."  'See if that gets to her,' thought Snape nastily.

                "Alright, sir," Ginny said in the same innocent inflection, and turned to take her seat in the midst of the designated Slytherin tables.  'Please don't take points, please don't take my points,' Ginny chanted desperately as she made her way to her seat next to Pansy.  

                Shocked once more, but desperately unwilling to let his students, especially those abominable Gryffindors, see him in such a state, Snape said hastily and in as nasty a tone as he could muster, "Well, as Miss Weasley here has already addressed so promptly, she has been placed into this course because she is at _your level, as in, she is _as_ smart, and probably_ smarter_ than most of you," he gestured vaguely to the Gryffindor side of the room again, and was answered with narrowed eyes and hateful glares from the Gryffindors, before continuing, "Miss Weasley passed the entrance exam last year at the end of her 5th year, and she was accepted into this class because she has a contribution to make.  Which is more than I can say, once again, for _most _of you…." Snape trailed off, before throwing a last, venomous glare at the Gryffindor sect.  The Gryffindors responded this time with not only hateful glances at the Potions Professor, but also to the Slytherin side of the class.  _

                Ginny, now seated comfortably next to Pansy and in front of Draco and Blaise, who were sitting together at a desk, blushed slightly and lowered her eyes down to look at her hands, clasped in her lap.

                "Damn bloody Gryffs," Pansy muttered darkly, which Ginny answered with a sharp glance.  "Not you, sweetie, just them.  They're crazy, the whole lot of them.  Thinking we're servants of the Dark Lord, and all that.  They're so fucken paranoid, it's unbelievable!  Just because Snape likes us more than them…" she trailed off as Snape turned back to the board to continue the interrupted lesson.

                "What the _hell is__ Ginny doing here!?"  Ron whispered furiously to Harry, who was seated next to him, hastily scribbling down the ingredients on the board._

                "Ron, she's your _sister.  Don't you remember when your mum bought those advanced books for her yesterday at Diagon Alley?" Harry whispered out of the corner of his mouth, dipping his quill in his ink pot before glancing up at Snape's lecture notes once more._

                "No…oh, wait, right.  You mean you _knew, and you didn't even bother telling me when we got to Potions that my _bloody sister_ was going to be in my class!?" Ron hissed at his friend, a bit louder than necessary, and Harry winced as Snape caught wind of their conversation and spun around to stalk towards their table with an ugly expression on his face._

                "Mr. Potter, is there a problem?" Snape drawled, angrily narrowing his eyes at him and glancing at Ron out of the corner of his eye.

                "N-no, sir, nothing wrong, Ron was just, erm, asking if he could borrow one of my quills," Harry thought up quickly, his mind desperately trying to find a way to get the both of them out of the way of Snape's wrath without losing points.  'I guess that's not possible,' thought Harry, as Snape's expression grew impossibly angrier as it bore down solely on Ron.

                "Mr. Weasley, is this correct?" Snape asked menacingly.

                "Erm….ye…yes, Professor, I mean, yes, I just wanted to a quill," Ron gulped, as an eyebrow shot up at his stuttering.

                "Well, in that case.  Mr. Potter, please give Mr. Weasley a quill, as he is so obviously unable to provide one for himself," Harry mutely handed over his extra quill, which Ron took, gaping at Professor Snape.

                'No points off?  Well today just might be my lucky…' Ron thought as the Potions Professor walked briskly back , but was interrupted as Snape called back over his shoulder.

                "Oh, and Mr. Weasley?  Twenty points from Gryffindor for coming unprepared, and for not paying attention."

                Groaning, Ron put his head in his hands as the Slytherins on the other side of the room burst out snickering.  Hermione turned around in her seat at the front of the classroom and glared at him, a sure sign of impending lecturing.  Ron rolled his eyes at her, and opened his mouth to say something but was stopped when Harry gave him a sharp glance.  Muttering to himself, he picked up the quill Harry had given to him and dipped it into his ink pot as Snape's lecture continued.

                "Alright everyone, now that I've explained how to make it, get to work.  Groups of four.  You have 40 minutes to get it boiling, or else," Snape announced darkly, looking around the room at his students.  The entire Gryffindor side had long since sunk into a stupor, and was that drool coming out of the side of Finnigan's mouth?  'Bloody idiots,' Snape thought to himself, rolling his eyes.  Surveying the other side of the room, however, he noticed that the majority of his own house wasn't all that better.  The only ones who seemed to be fully coherent, lacking the typical signs of extreme boredom (eyes glazed over, mouth slack, etc.), were the four in the front.  'Pity one of them has to be a Gryffindor, and a _Weasley__ to boot,' Snape thought.  'Though she doesn't really seem like one.  She's much better than that idiot brother of hers, thank Merlin.'  Snapping out of his thoughts, Snape raised an eyebrow and spoke sharply to his students._

                "Well!? What are you waiting for?  Pull out your cauldrons and get started!" Snape snapped, which brought everyone else out of their dazes.  Commotion quickly engulfed the room as the students began to set up their cauldrons and pull out the necessary ingredients for the potion.

                Ginny and Pansy turned simultaneously around as Draco and Blaise propped their cauldrons up on their desks.

                "Make sure to store your robes away.  As I'm sure you've all learned by now, since you are in your final year at Hogwarts," Snape said sarcastically over the din, "robe sleeves drag.  Unless you would like your robes disintegrated into a pile of ash this time around, I suggest you take them off.  And girls, hair must be up.  Make sure to put your gloves on before handling _any _of the ingredients.  Especially _you, Longbottom."_

                All the students paused, and, stopping what they were doing, proceeded to shrug off their robes to lay them on their chairs.  Ginny bent down to get out her new gloves, which she had purchased specifically for this class out of her own meager savings, and turned to the table that she and her Slytherin friends would be sharing.  The two boys were busily taking ingredients out from the cabinet under the desk, and Pansy was measuring out ingredients quickly.  Ginny blinked quickly, once.  'They sure make a good team,' she thought, watching as ingredients were set out and swapped and measured and then swapped again to be put back under the desk.  They were organized, quick, and almost militarily going about their tasks.  

                "You guys make a good team," Ginny said, deciding to voice her thoughts.

                "A lot of practice," Pansy said, not taking her eyes off the vial she was holding.

                "Seven years together in the same Potions class'll do that to you," said Draco as he came up from underneath the desk to set down a small, greenish bottle with what looked like thick, black liquid in it.

                When Draco bent back down to retrieve another item, Blaise came up, this time setting down what looked like a bottle of red sand, saying, "Plus it gives us extra time at the end of class to make fun of those blundering idiots," Blaise glanced pointedly at the other side of the room, where Ron had just spilled what looked to be an entire bottle of, well, something very blue, onto his desk, "if we finish early.  But we could always use the help.  Start mixing everything in that Pansy's already gotten out.  Make sure you follow the directions.  Snape would have a field day if he saw _you mess up," Nodding once at her, sternly, he bent down once more to hunt for the last ingredient on their list._

                'Okay, let's go then,' Ginny thought, furrowing her brow in concentration as she grabbed the first ingredient that Pansy had measured out.  Glancing each time at the sheet of parchment she had written her notes on, Ginny proceeded to mix in each ingredient in its exact order, peering at each one to make sure that she was correct.  Her hands became a blur as her concentration grew and there was nothing but her and the ingredients and the potion.  So absorbed was she, and so mechanical her methods, that she hardly noticed that the noise at her own table had stopped, and that Pansy, Draco and Blaise were all looking at her, slightly surprised.  Oblivious to the three, she added the final ingredient with a cluck of her tongue, and turned the fire underneath the cauldron to medium.  Sitting back with a sigh, she took off one glove and flicked a stray wisp of hair out of her eyes.  Suddenly Ginny paused, finally realizing that Draco and Blaise were no longer pulling out ingredients, or that Pansy was done as well.  Pushing the hair out of her eyes, Ginny's eyes widened when she realized she had finished the potion and that her partners were all staring at her intently.  Putting a hand behind her head, she grimaced and said sheepishly, "Erm…sorry?"

                "Whatever are you sorry for?" Pansy asked, an eyebrow raised.

                "That was…pretty fast…" said Blaise, glancing at Draco for affirmation.

                "Fastest I've seen anyone else I've ever seen.  Faster than _us, even," Draco said, emphasizing._

                "No wonder you got accelerated.  You're smashing at Potions, Gin," Pansy said, finally grinning, which succeeded in relaxing Ginny the tiniest bit.  She still had Draco and Blaise to worry about, however.

                "A Gryff, better at Potions than even the most capable Slytherins?  Impossible!"  Draco exclaimed, gesturing at Ginny and frowning slightly.

                "I agree.  How the hell did that happen?"  Blaise said calmly, glancing sharply at Ginny, who was blushing and looking at the floor ashamedly.

                "I mean, look at all of them, over there.  Hopeless at Potions, the lot of them!  So where'd this bit come from?"  Draco glared towards the Gryffindors, who were talking loudly, trying to figure out what to do after step 2 written on the board.

                'I think I pissed him off….' Ginny thought wildly, the hot, stinging sensation of prickling tears beginning to overwhelm her eyes.  'No!  Don't let anyone, especially _them, see you cry!'_

                "What's going on here?  You lot can't possibly be done, it's only been…12 minutes!"  Snape said, suspiciously.

                "Gryff did it all," said Blaise quickly, glancing at Ginny, "it looks alright, I don't think there's anything wrong with it, and all the ingredients are used.  I'm just having trouble figuring out how she did it so fast."

                Ashamed, Ginny slumped her shoulders down, and stood up wearily.

                "I'm just going to go to the b-bathroom, Professor.  I'll be right back," Ginny choked out, and she hurried out of the room before Snape could open his mouth.

                As soon as she had rushed out of the door, Snape turned to the three gaping students from his own house, and muttered lowly, "What in Merlin's name did you do to Weasley!?"

                Ginny flew out of the classroom and leapt up the steps.  When she reached the top of the dungeon stairs, however, she didn't stop, hurriedly turning left.  She finally slowed to a walk, and then collapsed next to a finely polished suit of armor.  Leaning her head on her arms, she fought to keep her throat from constricting as the tears welled in her eyes.  Keeping her eyes shut, she thought desperately to herself, 'I will not cry, I will not cry, I w ill not cry….alright maybe I will, god dammit.'

                Letting out a quick sob, she drew in gasps of air, calming herself as she clenched her fists in her robe.  Finally, her struggle to contain her tears stopped, and, she took in a deep breathe, and another.  Relaxing her body, she slumped even further down, sighing to herself.

                'I didn't _mean to mess their potion up, if I had known that I was doing something wrong, I would've just sat there and done nothing!' Ginny thought, sadly, as her eyes began tearing again.  Forcing them down so that her eyes were dry again, she said to herself sternly, "Get it together!  You'll go and apologize to them, and then you'll ask Professor Snape to move you to the Gryffindor side," she resolved, nodding her head firmly before taking a final deep breath and standing up.  Eyes dry and face only slightly red, she made her way slowly back to the dungeons._

                What she saw when she reached the door to the Potions classroom, however, made her want to crawl back up the stairs and keep running until she was inside her dormitory, under her bedcovers.

                When Ginny had exited the classroom in a blur of red hair and swishing school robes, Draco and Blaise had stared at the door, bewildered, until the furiously shaking figure of Pansy Parkinson attracted their attention simultaneously.  

                "Draco Malfoy!  What on earth possessed you to berate the girl for finishing _our work!!?! You…bloody….idiot!!!!"  Pansy turned, snarling, punctuating each pause with a sound smack on his chest that caused him to emit an airy "oomph!"_

                "Ow, Pansy stop it!  I did nothing of the sort, and you know it!"  Draco protested.

                "He's right, Pansy, what's the matter with you?  And why did Ginny just run out?"  Blaise asked, defending his friend by physically attempting to ward off Pansy's attack.

                "_And you!"_

                "That's quite enough, you three!"  Snape said, and the three paused to look at him.  Not used to being ignored entirely, he had watched the friends fighting in bemusement until realizing that, by the way things were going, his most valuable students, besides the new and now-absent Weasley girl, were going to get pummeled by a fellow Slytherin.

                "But sir, look what she did!"  Draco whined, pulling up his shirt sleeve to show a vivid red spot on his arm from where Pansy had pinched the life out of him a moment ago.

                "Oh stop being a baby, Drake.  _She scratched up my hand!"  Blaise exclaimed angrily, his typically unaffected composure breaking as he stared, horrified, at the marks Pansy had made, and he raised his hand to display the reddened welts streaking glaringly across the top of his hand._

                "Well you two deserved it!  Ginny's all upset now, and it's all your fault!"  Pansy glared at them balefully, crossing her arms over her chest and jutting her chin out rebelliously.  Draco and Blaise, meanwhile, looked at Snape questioningly, how, instead of backing his students, glared at them as well.  Astonished, the two boys gulped nervously as Snape advanced on them menacingly as if they were a pair of obnoxious _Gryffindors__!_

"Professor?  Erm, sir?"  Draco said, the 'erm' he had uttered the only display of his nervousness.

                "Is what Pansy says the truth?  Did you really run Ginny out of _my Potions class?"  Snape said lowly, his eyes hooded by the slightly greasy-looking hair that had fallen into his eyes._

                "Well, personally, _I don't think we did.  But that's what Pansy says," Blaise said, sniffing at the fuming girl standing at his left._

                "Well what in Merlin's name are you waiting for?!  You'd better get after her, or I'll start taking points!"  Snape snarled, and Blaise and Draco gasped.  Never before had their Potions master and Head of House threatened them with point loss.  Draco couldn't even think of a single time when Snape had deliberately deducted points from his own house before.  Too stunned to react, the two boys could do nothing but gape at Professor Snaoe, who was stalking back to the front of the classroom, muttering about idiotic teenagers chasing out his new student, who was very capable by the way and seemingly not in the least bit related to her pathetic excuse for a brother.  

                "Get your arses moving, _boys,"_ Pansy growled out, and grabbed the back of their robes, hauling them, to the astonishment of the entire class, right out the door.  Once outside, they all stopped, Draco and Blaise vainly attempting to ward off Pansy's verbal tirade, which was the situation Ginny came across when she came back.  

                "What the hell are you guys doing?"  a slightly amused, yet weary voice said from behind Draco.

                "Gin!  We were just coming to look for you!  The boys are sorry, they were just being ruddy idiots.  _Again," said Pansy, glaring pointedly at the two in question, who glared back at her spitefully._

                Stepping up to Ginny, Pansy reached up to put an arm around Ginny companionably, and started to steer her towards Blaise.

                "Blaise, say you're sorry, you great oaf, or _else,_" Pansy said, sickeningly sweet and smiling at Blaise with a forced expression of pleading on her face.  The look clearly said, 'This is good enough for now, but you're going to _die _once I get you alone.'

                "Sorry, dearest.  Didn't mean to upset you," Blaise said sincerely, inclining his head in an apologetic manner.  Satisfied, Pansy clucked her tongue and then turned Ginny, unresisting to face Draco.

                Slightly nervous, but determined not to show it, Ginny raised her eyes to meet Draco's intense gaze.

                "Oh but I don't want to!  I mean, erm…I…ahem-apologize-ahem Ginny," Draco muttered.

                "_What was that Drake??"  Pansy said angrily, narrowing her eyes at him threateningly._

                "What, Draco?"  Ginny said softly, raising her gaze to meet his eyes and arching a brow at said boy, who was crossing his arms over his chest mutinously.

                "I'm…I apologize, Ginny.  We didn't mean to make you feel bad about anything.  And you really did a good job on the potion.  We-I just couldn't believe that you had done it that fast," Draco grumbled, irritated, grudgingly complimenting the shocked Gryffindor.

                "Well done, Draco.  First time I've even heard you utter the word 'apologize'.  _Ever," _said Pansy, nodding in what seemed to be an approving manner.

                "I know, I'm surprised," Ginny said in a light tone, shaking herself out of her 'Draco just apologized!  To me!' daze quickly.

                "Hey, I can apologize!  No one ever seems to deserve it though, so I just don't bother," said Draco, hastily explaining himself.  'Wait, I'm making _myself out to be the good guy.  What the _fuck_?!' he thought, realizing what he had just said.  _

                "Well I'm glad I deserve it then," said Ginny, now smiling slightly.

                "Yeah, sure, let's get back," Draco said quickly, looking slightly disgruntled.  He turned back to the door, and reached out for the handle, but a small but firm grasp on his forearm prevented him from anything more.  Turning to the girl who had grabbed him, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Well?"

                "Well," Ginny said cheekily, "here it is, Draco.  The way I figure it, you owe me, because you made me feel the worst.  Blaise I can get over, but you…..," she trailed off enticingly, as Draco's eyes darted to Pansy pleadingly.  Pansy smirked, and winked at him, but didn't do anything besides that to help him out.  Rolling his eyes at his friend's inactivity, he turned his gaze back to the eye-catching redhead who just barely reached the lowest part of his shoulder.

                "But I…." Draco said, trailing off just as Ginny had just done.  Ginny stepped closer to him, not breaking eye contact, and brought her hand up towards his chest.  Anticipating her touch, Draco, leaned towards her instinctively, not knowing what he was doing.  He was rewarded, however, not with a caress, but with a sharp poke to the space between his ribs.

                "But you, on the otherhand," Ginny finished, "must be dealt with.  So you owe me, and expect me to collect."

                "It's a deal then," Draco said, nodding, not one to back down from the note of challenge in Ginny's voice.

                Nodding once, Ginny turned to the door and opened it, unable to help the small smile of victory on her face as she walked back into Potions.  And that smile grew broader as she felt a light touch on the small of her back, as Draco followed her back into class.

                'Ohhhh this is going to be so goooood….' Ginny thought, a glimmer of deviousness in her eyes.  'And the games begin!  Heads up Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley's out for revenge!' she crowed inwardly, and made her way back to her desk as the chattering of the students in the Potions classroom flowed over her.

AN:  Hi everyone!  I am now perfectly healthy, and am back on track busily churning out chapters for The New Ginny on a regular basis.  Sorry this bit took a week; I was sick and my computer had no internet access for that time (a tragedy, I know.  I was horrified when I found out).  Luckily, it got fixed.  So now, here I am, finally able to update this thing.  Reviewer shout outs next chapter.

-Jaylana


	11. The Day Before

Title: The New Ginny Weasley

Author: Jaylana88

Pairing: Ginny/Draco, mostly.  Will be some Ron/Lavender, and Harry/Hermione sprinkled in.

Rating: R, for language and some explicit content that would probably traumatize young ones

A/N: The usual author's note- I do not intend to copy, infringe upon, or abuse the characters I have borrowed from J.K. Rowling, but if someone thinks I am, try not to sue.  I have no money.

EXTRA NOTE: TO ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN WAITING FOR THIS CHAPTER, READ THE A/N AFTER THIS CHAPTER.  THANKS!  I LOVE YOU ALL!

The New Ginny Weasley

Chapter 10: The Day Before

"Well that went well," Ginny said after a slight pause, as the four friends walked out of Snape's dank, dark classroom.

"I'd say so," said Pansy, thoughtfully, "Snape seems to be taking to you quite well, actually."

"He's a good teacher….in a cynical, evil sort of way.  But that's how we like 'em, right Drake?" said Blaise, nudging his blonde-haired friend.

"Whatever you say, Blaise," drawled Draco, but nodding his head in agreement as they walked down towards the Great Hall.

"Gin!  Gin, ovah here!"  Lorey yelled, waving her arms wildly, though she, Lex and Kay were only on the other side of the hallway.

"Hey kids, whas crackin?"  said Kay conversationally, slipping an arm into Pansy's as they all walked into the Great Hall together.  The chatter of students at their House tables and the warm glow of the candles on the wall washed over them as they walked to the head of the Slytherin table, as the three excited American girls talked animatedly about their newfound love for Herbology.

"I swear to God, Gin, thas probably THE tightest class I've ever had," exclaimed Lex happily, clasping her hands together as she bounced towards the table.

"Serious, cat, it was cool!  We got to touch these weird slimy plant things, and Professor Sprout is sooo nice..." added Lorey as they took their seats.

Kay, who had been nodding all this time to the other girls' statements, burst in with, "Yaaaah, and I booyahed all ovah that plantin' biz…we had to stick a bunch of weird things in pots, and mine was the best and I got House points!"  Kay clapped her hands together happily as she and everyone else sat down, settling in to serve themselves lunch.

"I told you it'd be a cake walk," said Ginny, giggling slightly, leaning down to stow her book bag underneath her seat.

"You were right babe, this place is hot.  Oooh and guess what?  I was talking to this chick Lisanna, and she says that there are always back to school parties in the dorms!  So she told me to make sure you come.  She said that Gryff parties are sellout, and that since you're the only normal one or something, you should swing by and spend the night," Lex explained in a rush, and then finished with rapid head nodding as if to emphasize her point.

"Uhm….I'm not sure if that's a good idea.  It's Slytherin, after all, and I-" Ginny started, but was cut off as Pansy, Draco and Blaise, who had been listening in, started talking rapidly about what was _really happening._

"Shite!  I completely forgot about the party tonight!"  said Pansy, putting a hand up to her forehead in exasperation.

"Don't worry about it, all the others brought enough to cover the upper year kids," Blaise reassured her, then, turning to Ginny, he said, invitingly, "You should really come, Gin.  Bring something to sleep in, and dress nice, and you can bring other people if you'd like.  Like-this one, for instance," said Blaise, nodding pointedly at the boy who was rapidly approaching.  "He'd have…_fun, and so would you," Blaise finished, then raised an eyebrow and a half smile as Colin sat down in a rush at the end of the bench, next to him._

"Hello there, Colin.  How was class?" Blaise asked politely, with a slight smirk on his face, though Ginny didn't know from what.

"A nightmare!  Katie stole my folder and went around the class showing all my drawings to everyone- it was utterly humiliating….those are my really _bad _drawings, and I didn't _ever _want anyone to see them…" a flushed Colin said unhappily, as he gestured to the slightly crinkled folder he had set down in front of him with a huff when he had sat down earlier, then stopped as he realized he had begun to confide in Blaise as readily as he usually confided in Ginny,.

"I'm sure they aren't all _that _bad…" said Blaise mockingly, and grabbed the folder before Colin could open his mouth to protest.

"That's _mine, you know!__"  Colin said sarcastically, narrowing his eyes at Blaise, who was smiling evilly at the younger Gryff, "Give them back!  I don't want you to see-"_

But it was too late, as Blaise, after dodging Colin's attempted snatch, flipped open the folder…and stopped stone still.

"Colin…."  Blaise said, slightly faintly.

"I can't believe the nerve….never in my life…they're _mine…_it's my business if they're bad…not fair…"  Colin rambled, head turned away ashamedly when he realized that Blaise had gotten the folder open.

"Colin…."  Blaise said, firmer this time.

"It's not my fault…those are _old!...._I was just a beginner….stupid Katie…stupid Blaise….ugh…"  Colin trailed off as he risked a glance at Blaise, who was still staring at the first drawing in the folder.

Blaise turned his head up in time to catch Colin's covert glance, and said sharply, "Colin!"

"Uhm…yes?"  Colin said, keeping his eyes down.

After pausing a moment, Blaise sighed quietly, and chucked slightly.  Raising his arm, Blaise reached out and lifted Colin's head up so that the boy was no longer staring at the ground in embarrassment.

"They're brilliant," said Blaise with a finality that caused Colin's eyes to widen.  Blaise retracted his arm gracefully as Colin uttered a small "eep", and smiled slightly at the disconcerted Gryffindor.

"And make sure to come to the party tonight," he added, smirking now with a bright glint in his eye.  After a final shared glance, the two boys turned back to their empty plates and began serving themselves, talking together quietly about tonight's events.

Lunch passed quickly as Pansy, Kay, Lorey and Lex all talked about the upcoming party, with Pansy throwing in details of previous bashes and Kay bouncing in her seat excitedly at the prospect of her first party off her home continent.  

Oblivious to their friends' exchange, Draco and Ginny talked quietly with each other, engaged in their own private conversation as they finished their lunches.

"I don't understand why you freaked when I made that potion earlier, either," said Ginny, taking a last bite of her apple before setting it down tidily and wiping her fingers lightly on her napkin.

"It's not that I "freaked"," Draco said, emphasizing the unfamiliar word, "I was _startled_.  And that doesn't happen often…," said Draco, frowning slightly, almost talking to himself.

"Well you've apologized and all, so it's fine and it's not such a big deal.  But you still owe me…and I'm going to think of something….._good_, too," Ginny said, drawing out the "good" mockingly as she smiled at him innocently, eyes wide.

"Oh I'm counting on it," said Draco, but then paused, and added, "but since you're a Gryff, and typical Gryffindors have that annoying little habit of being noble and loyal and other such odd characteristics, I guess it's below you to think of anything that is interesting to a _Slytherin, of all people." Draco smirked, though he knew that baiting Ginny might not be the best idea.  'Well I guess it __could be the best idea, if this plays out right…' Draco's thoughts trailed off and his mind went blank as Ginny's eyebrow went up at his comment, and her smile faded, to be replaced by a vicious smirk that would rival Draco's best._

"I suppose you'll find it interesting enough," Ginny said, calmly.  Leaning in close to his ear, she whispered, "but I guess you'll have to wait until tonight."  She leaned back and straightened up, then reached underneath her to retrieve her bag.  

As she was leaning down, however, Draco caught her arm, and said quietly, "Waiting was never really my strong suit, Ginny.  I'll see you tonight." He let go and stood up quickly, the ghost of a smile flitting over his face but then vanished to be replaced with his trademark smirk.  He bent down as Ginny straightened and stood up.  Grinning, she crossed the space between them in a stride and placed her hand on the top of his spine, then ran it all the way down, lingering at the small of his back.  Draco froze, eyes widening, and then turned his gaze to look at Ginny blankly.  Giving his back a final pat, her eyebrow quirked, challengingly, and her eyes glinted enticingly.  Smiling even broader, she drew her hand back and walked around him, catching up to Kay, Lorey and Lex, who were exiting the Great Hall to go to their next class.  Draco straightened, and stared after her.  When Colin, who was behind Draco, realized that the older boy wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, he sighed impatiently and brushed past him quickly, reaching the doors and exiting to get to his next class as well.  Draco stared.  Blaise came up next to him, and stared at Colin's retreating form until it had vanished out into the hallway.  Blinking, Pansy, who was still sitting down, looked up at her two bewildered friends, and gave a wild hoot of laughter that caused the both of them to jump slightly.  

Angry gazes and two identical sneers turned towards her, but she paid no attention, as she stood up and said, amusement twinkling in her eyes, "Shit, you boys are so whipped."

"We are NOT!"

----------

                "Gin, wait up!"  Colin called, panting, as he caught up with her in the hallway.

                "Hey Colin, what's up?" said Ginny, looking at him curiously as he approached.

                "Nothing.  I just wanted you to wait up for me so we could sit together in class," Colin said, and, nodding, Ginny smiled at him and they walked into class together.

                "So…what was that thing with Draco back there?"  he asked, as they made their way to a set of vacant seats towards the back of the class.

                "Nothing.  What makes you say that?" said Ginny lightly, though her eyes said differently.  "I'm just goin' to get him back for something he did in Potions earlier, thas all," her face lit up with mischief and Colin groaned in sympathy for the blonde Slytherin.

                "Gin are you sure that's wise?"  Colin asked, softer than before, as they sat down and began to take out their class materials.  "I mean, I know he did something in Potions to piss you off, but your methods of revenge tend to be…..uhm.  A little….brash?  Sometimes?" he asked, then seriously wished he hadn't as Ginny turned to face him fully and eye him suspiciously, all traces of her happy mood wiped off her face.

                "Brash?  I am NOT brash!  If anything, Draco's the brash one!  It's his own fault, anyway," Ginny said, heatedly, and Colin cringed.  But before he could apologize and attempt to ward off her impending anger, she did it herself, smiling at him amusedly as she finished with, "Besides...it's all in fun.  I'm not really angry at anyone.  If I were, I wouldn't be talking, remember?"

                Colin nodded, remembering the times when people had angered her, and she had holed herself up in her room.  The Weasleys in general were notorious for their angry tirades, but Ginny seemed to be the exact opposite.  The angrier she got, the less talkative she got.  Colin had learned quickly enough, and was now an excellent judge of mood when it came to his best friend, which was why he knew that she was joking, because what she said was the truth.  'If she WERE angry at someone, she just wouldn't be talking,' he thought, relieved.  An angry Ginny is definitely not something you want to cross, and, judging by that display at breakfast, crossing Ginny when she was mad was basically a voluntary attempt at suicide.  He was about to comment, but was stopped as their Magical Ruins teacher decided at that time to stroll into the classroom, looking around at them owlishly before stating hurriedly.

                "Alright kids, settle down!  I hope you read your required reading, because we'll be starting off with a little quiz this year!" 

                The class groaned collectively, and settled in.  It looked to be a long, long hour.

-----------

                "Good god, why is it that every time you two blow it in class, I have to bail you out!?"  Pansy snapped, stalking through the corridor leading to the entrance of the Slytherin common room, with Draco and Blaise hurrying quickly to keep up with her angry strides.  The last class of the day had been Advanced Herbology, with the Hufflepuffs, and it had not gone well at all.  Justin Finch-Fletchley had thrown a fit when he'd seen Draco and then Blaise putting the moves on some girl that was supposedly his girlfriend, and had attempted to throw both boys out of the green house.  Needless to say, Professor Sprout had interrupted the brawl, and, in order to save her friend's arses, Pansy had thought up a quick excuse that, instead of landing her friends with punishment, had ended up herself with deducted house points and a late afternoon detention

                "Pansy, it's not like we _planned on getting you detention.  We didn't think that stupid oaf would actually __throw something at us!"  Draco said, exasperated, as the three reached the hidden entrance to their dormitories._

                "Well it doesn't matter now, does it?  I'm going to miss at least half of the party tonight, and Professor Sprout will give me hell during detention.  Bloody hell boys, I thought we got over this _5th year!"  Pansy ranted even as she was triggering the door to open and they stepped into their warmly-lit home.  _

                With a sigh, she ran her hands through her hair and muttered under her breath about idiotic sidekick boys and their even more idiotic actions, while climbing the stairs to her dormitory in order to shower and change before going down to meet Professor Sprout for her afternoon detention.

                Blaise and Draco, left alone in the Common Room, looked at each other, and blinked.  Shrugging his shoulders, Draco sighed and flicked a stray hair out of his face before flopping down onto a large couch elegantly.  Following his friend's example, Blaise did so as well, propping his feet up on a nearby table with ease.

                "Well Drake, looks like we're in a bit of a predicament," said Blaise mockingly, but then shaking his head to imply that his sarcasm was directed more towards himself than at Draco.

                "Suppose we are, a bit," drawled Draco, slightly wearily.  "Tonight should be quite the party."

                "Certainly.  With us inviting Gryffindors?"  Blaise said, slightly incredulously, then chuckled slightly, "we'll be the talk of the school, that's what.  And with my name connected with not just a Gryff, but a..boy, as well, things are definitely going to be getting complicated soon."

                "You really are after Colin then," stated Draco, not even bothering to phrase it as a question.  Blaise nodded once, shortly.

                "And you're after Ginny," stated Blaise, as Draco had just done.  This time, it was Draco's turn to affirm without words, and just the barest of nods.

                "You're fucked if that idiot brother of hers finds out where she's going to be tonight," said Blaise slyly.

                "In the heart of Slytherin?" Draco snorted, then laughed softly, "I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to force his way into here and hex me to death!"

                "The heart of Slytherin?  More like the _bed _of Slytherin, Drake.  You know as well as I do that you're going to try to get her into bed the second she steps into the dorms." Blaise said matter-of-factly, but then glanced at Draco and stopped, as the look on his friend's face had suddenly gone darker.

                "Maybe.  But then again, maybe not.  Maybe I want more than just that," muttered Draco, putting his hands above his head to stretch out more fully on his couch, staring at the ceiling moodily.

                Slightly shocked, Blaise turned back to stare at his portion of the ceiling, and a comfortable silence settled between the two friends.  'If Draco is even remotely considering the possibility of a relationship, and with a Gryff and a Weasley to boot, he must be deep in,' Blaise thought, before his thoughts drifted in a more personal direction, involving attractive, sandy-haired Gryffindors, and skin.  'Lots of skin,' he thought, mouth curling in a slight smile as his eyes closed slightly.

                This was the position Pansy found them in, with Draco glaring at the ceiling intently, sprawled out on one couch, and Blaise on the other couch, one arm propping his head up, a content, yet slightly wistful expression gracing his face.

                Smiling slightly, Pansy descended the stairs, trying not to disturb the two.  Even if they screwed up more often than not, they were still the best mates she could ever ask for, and a little sacrificing was worth their friendship, right?  'Even if sacrificing for friendship involves being mauled to death by giant, poisonous flowers for detention they should be serving, I guess they _should _be the ones here at the party.  _They're the ones with prospects, after all.  Not me,' Pansy shook her head, trying to banish the bitter thoughts from her mind, and looked again at the boys lounging in the common room with affection.  Crossing between the two couches, she simultaneously patted Draco and Blaise on their stomachs, and spoke softly._

                "I'm out.  Drinks are upstairs by my bed, you know where.  Make sure all the charms are in place before nine, or Snape'll throw a fit."

                Draco nodded sleepily before covering his face with one arm to block out the glare of the ceiling lights, and Pansy smiled again and strode across the room quickly.  Just as she was about to exit, a slightly slurred, yet still distinctly drawling voice called her back.

                Turning back, she turned her eyes to Blaise expectantly.

                Nothing was said at first.  All that was shared was a glance that spoke volumes.

                "Thanks," Blaise said, nodding once at her, then turned back around and flopped back down on the couch to bury his head in the cushions.

                Pausing, Pansy looked at Draco, who was looking at her as well by now.  With an expression that was only reserved for her, he gestured towards the door, and she complied, grinning at him and then winking once, at which he rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

                Thoughtfully, and with the traces of a smile on her face, Pansy made her way down to the green houses.  Her mind drifted back to their 5th year, and the beginning of the three Slytherin's friendship.  Coming from the three most prominent Dark Arts families of the age, they had found within each other similar experiences that no one but them could even begin to comprehend.  'Even if they pretend like nothing is important,' Pansy thought, 'I know that I mean something to them.  Boys, no matter how old, will always have an issue with emotional expression,' she finished wryly, quirking her mouth up slightly.

                Reaching the door leading to her detention, she paused and sighed, then opened the door and stepped into the brightly lit green house.  Walking towards the front of the botanical class room, she thought idly, 'I'm doing this for Draco.  I'm doing this for Blaise.  Draco.  Blaise.  Oh bloody hell, I…HATE….PLANTS!' 

------------

                Ginny groaned and dropped her book bag on the floor, then threw herself on her bed with a loud, "oomph."  She paused, then lifted her head, and said, "You know, Colin, I've just realized something."

                Colin, setting his bag down next to Ginny's, sat down next to her on the bed and raised an eyebrow.

                "Oh?" he asked, slightly archly, "and what have you realized, Gin?"

                "Well, besides the fact that school is the worst possible thing ever to be invented, and that Professor Snape is actually a normal, sane person and not a vampire as originally thought, I HAVE YET TO COME UP WITH A PLAN FOR REVENGE ON DRACO!" she ended, wailing.

                "That's a lot of stuff to realize in a single day…"

                "Yes, I know.  Thanks for that Colin.  You're such a help," Ginny hmphed as she narrowed her eyes at her friend in exasperation, her head raised from the mattress.

                After a pause, and another low groan from Ginny, Colin said, with the beginnings of a smile on his face, said, "Well I _could help you with Draco…."_

                Ginny perked up at that, and drawled, "yeeesss?"

                "If you help me with…Blaise," Colin finished quickly, looking around at the room idly as he avoided Ginny's smirking gaze studiously.

                "Mmmmhmmm….you want in his pants then, yes?  We'll just have to make that happen…tonight," Ginny said, leaning in conspiringly.

                "Tonight would be fine, yes," Colin said, trying to be nonchalant and failing miserably as his friend's infectious grin caused him to smile as well.

                "Tonight…is going to be good.  And here's what we're going to do…."

------------

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  So basically…..I fell off the face of the planet for about a month.  A little while after I posted the last chapter and took my AP History exam, my computer ate itself and died.  It got a virus or something, and everything was completely wiped out.  It wasn't fixed until around the third week of May, and by that time, I was panicking because I NEEDED to get this chapter posted.  And then I finally got back onto my computer, and realized that I was screwed, because not only were all my previous chapters erased (which wasn't really a problem because I could just read them like any other person on fanfiction.net), I no longer had the practically finished, meticulously polished Chapter 10 that I was waiting anxiously to post as my update.  Everything stopped then…my creative wells dried up and I kinda slumped back into school with a dejected air.  But NEVER FEAR, I am back and kicking!  MWAHAHAAHAH.  Just kidding.  Anyways, this is the new (and possibly improved-or not) Chapter 10 of The New Ginny, and I APOLOGIZE PROFUSELY to anyone who has been waiting for this.  If it is a disappointment, feel free to email me or just post up a review saying how terribly I did and I will try to appease you with the next chapter, which will be up by the middle of next week.  Thanks so much for everything, my avid, angry, anxious readers and reviewers.  It means a lot that you actually bothered to check up on the progress of this story.  I am going to get this story done!  It's going to be huge, but I'm going to do it!  THANKS AGAIN!!!!!  And I'm still really sorry.  L.

-Jaylana


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